Bitcoin (BTC) is still the world’s #1 cryptocurrency when measured by market cap. However, there are many reasons to think that some altcoin projects may surpass it in the future. This year, before the crypto market retreated, the notion of Bitcoin as a hedge against inflation and a long-term store of value prevailed among investors. Some even called it “digital gold”. But these assumptions are now highly doubtful.
“These 2 altcoins could replace Bitcoin”
So which cryptos have the potential to replace Bitcoin at the top of the crypto space? Consulting giant Motley Fool has an answer to that. According to him, the two best possibilities at the moment are Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL). Both altcoins provide more benefits than Bitcoin. Also, both are ranked as innovation leaders in the Blockchain industry with growth prospects.
Ethereum (ETH)
The leading altcoin Ethereum also emerges as an innovation leader. The most famous developments of the last few years, including smart contracts, dApps, and NFTs, have spawned the Ethereum network. By almost every metric, Ethereum is the dominant force in the Blockchain industry. For example, Ethereum is the number one player in the NFT market with an estimated 80% share. In areas like decentralized finance (DeFi), Blockchain gaming, and Metaverse, Ethereum eclipses every other network in the world.
Now, it gets even more powerful with “Merge”, a major system upgrade. However, there are also complaints. The altcoin has been under criticism for years for being too slow and too expensive. This was largely because it was based on a PoW consensus mechanism. But now with Merge, the network has switched to a PoS mechanism that reduces transaction fees and increases transaction processing speeds. Eventually, once Ethereum 2.0 is complete, it will process 100,000 transactions per second. In contrast, Bitcoin currently only processes five to 10 transactions per second.
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For Solana, the path to market dominance is more complex. Because it is one of the biggest competitors of Ethereum. Layer-1 networks, both offering the same functionality and benefits to users. Solana has smart contracts like Ether. Also, both enable the creation of NFTs. In fact, the only reason Solana is attracting attention is because Ether provides cheaper and faster services. As Cryptokoin.com reported, Solana is currently capable of processing 65,000 transactions per second, with transaction fees close to zero.
Even if Ethereum increases network speed and lowers fees with Merge, there is a chance Solana will take the lead. The altcoin project is working on many unprecedented innovations in the crypto space. Solana has launched everything from a new commercial payment network (Solana Pay) to an entirely new mobile crypto platform (Solana Mobile). It also plans to launch the world’s first “crypto phone”, the Saga, in 2023. In addition, Solana has also started working to gain a foothold in Blockchain games and Web3.
When will Bitcoin fall back?
This may be an imprecise analogy, but you can think of what happened in the crypto industry as similar to what happened in the tech industry a generation ago. Until the 1980s, IBM was the biggest name in the tech industry. Then Microsoft and Apple came to market and became leaders. In many ways, Bitcoin is the IBM of today, Ethereum is the new Microsoft and Solana is the new Apple. In fact, there is room for all three to live together. In the future, large institutional investors may prefer Bitcoin, while daily investors may prefer Ethereum and Solana.
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