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Rony Roy
May 31, 2022

What's fueling Ethereum's Intrinsic Value?

Ethereum
Ethereum is one of the most useful cryptocurrencies in the market. In terms of market capitalization, it's second only to that of Bitcoin. As a result, it's highly regarded as a financial tool by many people. Ethereum is also home to a slew of cutting-edge technologies, like NFT and dApps. However, how can Ethereum come to have its own intrinsic value?

What is the Definition of Intrinsic Value?

To begin discussing the intrinsic value of Ethereum, it is necessary to first define the word "intrinsic value." In layman's terms, intrinsic value is the true value of any asset. The inherent worth of any asset should not be confused with its market price. This is because market prices may be either under or overvalued.

When it comes to digital currencies, the intrinsic value may be defined in a variety of ways. Any digital currency's inherent worth is defined by its scarcity, real-world applications, and broad technological usage. This simply indicates that the more a digital currency's utility, the greater its inherent worth.

As Ethereum's utility in real-world activities rises, so does its value, and it has received a lot of attention in the cryptocurrency market.

The use of smart contracts is the most notable element that improves the utility of the Ethereum blockchain and network.

These smart contracts are regarded as Ethereum's first and most essential utility feature. This is due to the fact that smart contracts serve as a backbone for various real-world network applications, such as the creation of NFTs, dApps, and DeFi. Smart contracts allow blockchain transactions to be performed automatically without the need for legal or financial third-party intervention.

By modifying the way transactions are handled through governance, digital ID, supplier chains, and market structure, Eth smart contracts have shown significant promise for transforming the financial community.

With thousands of decentralized applications and use cases, Ethereum became the uncontested champion in the Decentralized Application field.

So, what gives Ethereum intrinsic value?

In addition to smart contracts, there are additional aspects that contribute to the overall value of Ethereum. Here are a few observations:

Improved Connection

Ethereum has shown enormous potential in terms of bridging the financial and technology worlds. Because Ethereum is the greatest backer of DeFi, it will play a critical role in reshaping the macroeconomic environment.

Because Ethereum strives to facilitate the transformation of the financial ecosystem, it provides an unconstrained and open-source platform. This will open the door for mass engagement and connections, increasing the network's value.

With a solid supporter base, an efficient development team, and tremendous popularity, the Ethereum ecosystem is undoubtedly developing, and this growth will result in an increase in the value of the currency, Ether.

Transactional Speed

The rapid networking speed of Ethereum is one of its distinctive features. New blocks are validated every 10 to 15 seconds, and transactions take 5 minutes or less. This is substantially faster than Bitcoin's blockchain, which takes 10 minutes to validate a block and around 40 minutes to complete a transaction.

Protocol Improvement

Ethereum is currently based on the PoW protocol, which necessitates the usage of miners. The primary job of these miners is network surveillance and the permission of new blocks, for which they are compensated.

Nonetheless, Eth is preparing to switch from the current PoW protocol to the more cost-effective PoS protocol. The upcoming Eth 2.0 is expected to entirely operate on the beacon chain rather than the Ethereum Classic blockchain that is currently in use. This will improve network speed, scalability, and efficiency.

Unlike Eth 1.0, which requires miners, ETH 2.0 primarily requires validators. In an effort to prevent selfishness, these validators are required to have a stake in the network. There are three key stages to the transition: Phase 0, the 'Merge,' and then the shard chains.

Disinflationary Supply

Because there are only 21 million Bitcoins in circulation, it is usually seen as a store of value and an inflation hedge. Unlike bitcoin, Ethereum has an endless supply of Ether but limits the quantity issued each year through the mining process. This eliminates the perceived scarcity that may have contributed to bitcoin's increased worth. The supply of Ether grows using a disinflationary process that will be modified as the network matures.

The way blocks are constructed changed fundamentally with Ethereum's new paradigm. Instead of paying miners for building blocks, validators will be compensated with a transaction fee for each transaction and smart contract that they validate. The more the amount of Ether that is staked, the higher the value will be since there will be less Ether available for purchase. Plus, Proof of stake reduces mining expenses like electricity and hardware, suggesting that miners will sell and stake less Ether, implying that deflation may come into play in new ways.

Eth 2.0's Impact on Ethereum's Intrinsic Value

The year 2022 is expected to be a turning point for Ether, according to cryptocurrency analysts. The value of the currency has increased dramatically in recent years, attracting a large number of investors. In addition, Ether's steady rise has also prompted a number of newcomers to join the crypto revolution via trading.

Enhanced scalability and increased performance are only two of the new upgrade's many promising benefits. However, the success of this will be contingent on the planned improvement.

Until the upgrade is done and tested, the Ether price will likely fluctuate, affecting its value.

What's fueling Ethereum's Intrinsic Value?
Rony Roy is an electrical engineer turned tech author in the Cryptocurrency space. He got block-chained in 2012 and fell in love with tech and its use-cases and has been writing his way through innovations in this emerging sector. Over the years, he has worked with multiple Blockchain projects and premier cryptocurrency exchanges both national and international.