Ethereum: Unsung Hero or Underdog?

According to a report by Bitwise released on Tuesday, Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency, may appear to be overlooked right now. However, the situation could change as the year draws to a close.

Ethereum has seen little to no growth this year, while Bitcoin is up 38% and Solana has risen 31%. The report attributes Ethereum's recent underperformance to several factors: risks associated with the November US presidential election, growing competition from Solana and other blockchains, challenges with tokenomics, and mixed reactions to the US potential launch of a spot Bitcoin ETF.

"Ethereum has the most active developers, the most active users, and a market cap five times larger than its closest competitor," wrote Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer at Bitwise. "It's like Microsoft (MSFT) of the blockchain world." He added, "Everyone wants to talk about the newer companies and their game-changing technology, like Google (GOOG), Slack (WORK), and Zoom (ZM), but Microsoft still dwarfs all of them combined in terms of size."