Ethereum Killers: 5 Cryptocurrencies About To Explode

Last Updated February 3rd 2022

15 Min Read

In this article, Trading Education points out Ethereum’s biggest competitors that look forward to unseating the king of decentralized finance.

Having dubbed their projects as Ethereum Killers, we present a great thesis that can help answer the question; could Ethereum Killers Coins dethrone Vitalik Buterin’s innovation and become the go-to platform for developers?

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Ethereum: The novel token of the first smart-contracts network is the second most popular and second-largest cryptocurrency. Ether (ETH) has outperformed Bitcoin in terms of percentage returns in 2021.
Cardano: Has been a rival of Ethereum ever since co-founder Charles Hoskinson left the project due to management issues.
Tron: Declared itself as an Ethereum competitor after leaving the Ethereum Network where it operated as an ERC 20 token for the Tron Network.
Polkadot: After finding solutions to the scalability and interoperability issues associated with the adoption of blockchain technology, this project has begun to rival Ethereum for developers and DAPP users.
Solana: Is in the running due to its preference for the creation of decentralized applications. The project has hundreds of DAPPS running on it and has beaten Ether in terms of percentage returns in 2021.
Eosio: As one of the pioneer smart contracts projects in the space, it provides resources that transcend the decentralized finance space. This could make EOSIO (EOS) another killer of Ethereum and its novel token, Ether (ETH).
Ethereum and three of the killers comprise four of the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. The other two are part of the top 50 cryptocurrencies by market valuation.

The gradual adoption of cryptocurrencies by the mainstream can be likened to the game-changing revolution of FinTech. Difficult at first, the world got accustomed to the marriage of the traditional ways of handling finances and the technological ways that can be used to harness the attributes of what classifies a currency as a success.

Money was the core of the status quo because it possessed the essential attributes that certified it as a medium of exchange.

In the olden days, several commodities and precious metals that had intrinsic value were considered currencies. This was because they were known to be scarce, durable, and this made them vital in the barter trade system.

When most commodities lost their value because of their abundance, gold, in particular, maintained its value for centuries. Therefore, it is not surprising to see various central banks and governments across the globe prioritizing the need for gold as part of their foreign exchange reserves. This has made gold one of the prized commodities to hold due to its appreciating and not depreciating value over a given period.

Unlike cryptocurrencies, governments have absolute authority to expand as well as contract the supply of fiat money in pursuit of their political and economic goals.

This is the primary reason why countries such as China and India are leading a crackdown on the cryptocurrency space since they operate independently without any regulation.

Cryptocurrencies have become a threat to the economic and political power of many countries because of their extreme independence.

While blockchain technology continues to gain acceptance in the mainstream after upgrades on older versions which have improved scalability, security, and interoperability, acceptance of digital tokens has been extremely difficult.

Due to the possibilities of decentralized finance (DeFi), some of the most efficient and fastest protocols continue to dominate the headlines.

Ethereum (ETH) being the first-mover of smart contracts has been the leader of a new revolution. Others such as Cardano (ADA), Tron (TRX), Eosio (EOS), Polkadot (DOT), and Solana (SOL) are right behind Ethereum, as they make moves to become the main players in DeFi.

Ethereum: The Second-largest Cryptocurrency Outperformed Bitcoin On A Percentage Basis In 2021

When most people take a step into investing in cryptocurrencies, the first name that comes to mind is Bitcoin (BTC). The parent crypto has become the primary name all digital coins go by. If you tell someone that there are more than 12,000 cryptos in the market, the first response you get is, so they are also like Bitcoin.

Ethereum as a result of its innovative technology has seen its novel token, Ether (ETH) hot on the heels of Bitcoin since 1st January 2021. ETH has outperformed BTC significantly.

Ether (ETH) followed the crypto bubble led by Bitcoin (BTC) which took the parent crypto to an all-time high of $68,789 on 10th November 2021. Taking it a step further, ETH reached an all-time high of $4,891 on 16th November 2021.

Bitcoin has returned 57.6% in 2021 for its traders and investors. Ether has done even better, having returned more than 404% in 2021 which has brought huge gains to several portfolios.

Ethereum’s rise in such a saturated market came after numerous stakeholders of decentralized finance began endorsing its innovative products such as decentralized applications (DAPPS), stablecoins, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

In comparison to Bitcoin, the first blockchain relies on its basic layer to process transactions online to all parts of the world without intermediaries.

Moreover, Ethereum is moving to a proof-of-stake (POS) network that will see it scale faster and process more transactions than the proof-of-work (POW) algorithm earlier employed which also serves Bitcoin.

Moving away from POW doesn’t categorize Ethereum under less energy-intensive crypto projects. Presently, technology through the internet of things (IoT) has taken over all aspects of our lives.

This is the primary reason why blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies will be hard to discard by any central regulatory body.

Experts at Trading Education believe that Ethereum will continue to dominate the decentralized finance space.

Crypto asset investing is highly volatile and unregulated in some EU countries. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.

With that said, there are five crypto protocols that are hot on Ethereum’s heels trying to take its position. They are collectively called Ethereum Killers.

Their impact in the space has led to several questions being asked such as, is there an Ethereum Killer, what are Ethereum killers, and Ethereum Killers 2022.

Let us take a look at the so-called Ethereum Killers and what they could add to your portfolio of investments.

Ethereum Killers: 5 Cryptocurrencies To Explode In 2022

Cardano
Solana
Polkadot
Tron
EOS

Cardano (ADA): An Ethereum Rival

Cardano vs. Ethereum has been one of the most trending questions online. Ether (ETH) has posted more than 404% rise in 2021.

Cardano (ADA) opened on 1st January 2021 at $0.18. Its novel token ADA continues to see huge investor interest which is reflected in its trading volume.

This helped ADA soar to a new all-time high price of $3.10 on 2nd September 2021. Cardano is a large-cap digital asset with more than $34.6 billion in market capitalization.

In 2021, ADA has returned more than 627%. Numerous experts believe that more gains could befall ADA due to its use and extensive involvement in the Cardano ecosystem.

As protocols, Ethereum and Cardano share many similarities. They all offer blockchain technologies that have the necessary tools for the development of smart contracts and decentralized finance applications.

Although they are similar, they differ in several ways. Ethereum continues to process 15 to 30 transactions per second with Ethereum 1.0 which is likely to increase to 100,000 transactions per second when it reaches full functionality through Ethereum 2.0.

On the other hand, Cardano could process 1 million transactions per second when all of the milestones are accomplished.

Moreover, Ethereum only falls under decentralized finance and the cryptocurrency space while Cardano transcends the space.

Cardano through the Cardano Foundation, Emurgo, and Input-Output Hong Kong continues to forge partnerships with countries across Africa and Asia by using the possibilities of its technology to improve the lives of citizens in the third world.

As a peer-to-peer reviewed protocol, Cardano beats Ethereum when factors such as security, scalability, and interoperability are taken into account.

Cardano is set to reach full functionality after the launch of the Alonso hard fork which has triggered smart contracts. This means that more DAPPS will be running on the network soon.

At the time of writing, ADA was trading below $1.03. With the potency of its issuing authority (Cardano), the coin is relatively cheaper than Ether (ETH). Buying more ADA could bring huge gains to your portfolio in the long term should the price of the token test the levels of Ether.

Check Out: Cardano Price Prediction Forecast

Crypto asset investing is highly volatile and unregulated in some EU countries. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.

Solana Could Become Another Ethereum Killer

Solana vs. Ethereum has been on the discussion boards of several crypto forums for some time. Solana is one of the most vibrant crypto protocols in the space. Its novel token, SOL is a top 10 cryptocurrency because of its market capitalization above $30.5 billion.

Ether's (ETH) price performance in 2021 is not near that of Solana (SOL). SOL started 2021 at $1.84.

Benefiting as an altcoin by following institutional demand for Bitcoin, Solana reached several milestones in the 1st half of 2021.

SOL recovered well from the new high lows experienced in May and June to reach a new all-time high of $260 on 6th November 2021. As a result, SOL has returned more than 14,000% for its holders.

Ethereum and Solana share many similarities. They all offer protocols that offer smart contracts. What’s more, the two have more than 400 decentralized applications (DAPPS) running on their respective blockchains across lending, exchange, etc.

They also support two of the most trending asset classes called stablecoins and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Development activity on their networks continues to be on the high as they look forward to adding more DAPPS into their ecosystem.

This doesn’t mean the two protocols don’t have differences. Ethereum processes less than 50 transactions per second while Solana is capable of handling approximately 65,000 transactions per second due to its reliance on proof-of-stake (POS) and proof-of-history (POH) networks. The statistics provided show that Solana is faster than Ethereum.

Although Ethereum has the first-mover advantage, currently, Solana is the fastest blockchain globally. Solana also has one of the fastest-growing ecosystems in the world.

At the time of writing, SOL was trading above $96. Taking into consideration the scalability feature of the protocol and the number of DAPPS that use SOL in the ecosystem, more liquidity continues to befall the token.

Making a long-term investment in SOL could bring you enormous profit in case it reaches new milestones in the not-too-distant future.

Don't Miss: Solana Price Predictions

Crypto asset investing is highly volatile and unregulated in some EU countries. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.

Polkadot Is Also In The Running As An Ethereum Killer

Polkadot vs. Ethereum is an exciting topic because of the parties involved. Polkadot’s founder Gavin Wood is a co-founder of Ethereum. Polkadot’s novel token DOT was one of the tokens that made gains towards the end of the pandemic year. DOT started 2021 at $8.30.

The crypto trading asset has been one of the major beneficiaries of the bubble in digital assets in 2021.

DOT increased significantly and reached $55 on 4th November 2021. DOT has returned more than 220% in 2021 for its long-term investors.

This accounts for DOTs position as a top 10 digital asset by market capitalization.

Polkadot’s success story can be attributed to scalability, interoperability, successful partnerships, and diversification.

It has several similarities with Ethereum such as leading the way in decentralized finance applications. Moreover, Polkadot and Ethereum are neck-on-necks in the race for developers.

The major difference comes from scalability and interoperability. As pointed out earlier, Ethereum will be processing 100,000 transactions on its new network.

Polkadot on the other hand, with parachains and multithreading, could process approximately 1,000,000 transactions per second in a secured environment.

While Ethereum aims to continuously dominate the space, Polkadot has been tagged by cryptocurrency traders and more essentially, blockchain enthusiasts as the United Nations of Blockchains. Polkadot allows several blockchains to exchange and make use of information. As a result, cross-blockchain transfers of any type of asset or data have become possible.

Projects such as the Ocean Protocol, Celer Network, and REN as well as DAPPS on its blockchain such as Exceedme, Polkaswap, and Polkastarter could increase the price of DOT in the future.

Currently, DOT is trading below $20. This means that it can be considered as a low barrier to enter the cryptocurrency space.

Polkadot has unique features which could propel DOT into new price levels. Investing in Polkadot (DOT) could bring you awesome returns in the long term.

Read Also: Polkadot Price Predictions

Crypto asset investing is highly volatile and unregulated in some EU countries. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.

Tron Declared Itself As An Ethereum Killer In 2020

Tron vs. Ethereum is one of the most exciting topics in the cryptocurrency space. This is because the founder of Tron (Justin Sun) built his protocol on Ethereum as an ERC20 token in 2017.

After seeing the slow processing speed of Ethereum, he decided to move his protocol to the Tron Network so that it can compete with Ethereum in the decentralized finance space.

TRON aims to build a FREE global digital content entertainment system. This has seen an extensive usage of the protocol and its novel token Tronix (TRX).

Ether (ETH) is one of the best performing cryptocurrencies and Ethereum featured strongly in the 1st quarter report of cryptocurrencies and decentralized finance of 2021.

But Tron has not fared badly in 2021. After starting at $0.0269 in 2021, TRX has gone on to reach a year high of $0.17 on 15th April 2021. TRX has returned 2700% for investors who held and sold the coin at the right time.

TRON is at the forefront of a digital revolution that will take the current Web 2.0 to Web 3.0.

After moving away from Ethereum, TRON processes approximately 2,000 transactions per second (66.67 times that of Ethereum 1.0).

Tron continues to be a major player in decentralized finance with billions of dollars in total value locked in Tron DeFi.

What’s more, founder Sun has forged successful partnerships with Samsung, CoinPayments, Opera Browsers, and MixMarvel which continues to bring mileage to the Tron ecosystem.

TRX is yet to retest its all-time high of $0.3004, a feat accomplished in 2018. Trading below $0.06, you can buy thousands and millions of TRX at a relatively lower price.

TRON is an Ethereum Killer and could become the coin that will drive your portfolio to new high gains.

Read More: TRON Price Prediction

Crypto asset investing is highly volatile and unregulated in some EU countries. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.

EOS Could Become An Ethereum Killer

EOS vs. Ethereum has dominated the headlines for some time. EOS is a silent Ethereum Killer.

Unlike other protocols that brag about being the real Ethereum Killers without having the necessary data to back their claims, EOS has featured in reports where they are hot on the heels of Vitalik Buterin’s innovation.

EOS has brought awesome gains to the portfolios of several traders and investors in 2021.

Starting at $2.64, EOS began 2021 strongly. The crypto trading asset followed in the paths of altcoins by reaching a year high of $14.37 on 12th May 2021. With its diverse ecosystem, EOS is at the forefront of the decentralized finance revolution, just like Ethereum.

The only difference is the speed of processing where EOS processes approximately 10,000 transactions per second (333.33 times faster than the Ethereum 1.0 network).

With a thriving ecosystem that continues to record increased usage of their products, EOSIO will compete with Ethereum and other smart contracts blockchains in the long term.

Its novel token, EOS continues to trade below $5. Buying hundreds, thousands or millions will not cost you much. If we take into perspective the price forecasts of analysts and experts, EOS can trade for 10, 20, or 50 times its current trading price. Therefore, investing in EOS can bring you awesome returns in the future.

Check Out: EOS Price Predictions

Crypto asset investing is highly volatile and unregulated in some EU countries. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.

Most Ethereum Killers Comprise Three Of The Top Nine Cryptos

Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), and Polkadot (DOT) offer similar products in terms of DAPPS. But they have extra features such as scalability and interoperability that are vital in their quest to displace Ethereum as the king of decentralized finance.

It is impressive to see these 3 in the top 10 of a market that has more than 12,000 coins.

The combined market capitalization of the five coins is approximately $91 billion compared to the $312 billion of Ethereum.

The fast-moving nature of the crypto world means market rank changes daily since cryptocurrencies are tagged as a highly volatile asset class.

Financial technology is upon us and it will continue to dictate how we go about our financial lives for a very long time.

Even if DOT, SOL, EOS, TRX, or ADA manages to overtake the valuation of ETH, there will be more crypto projects that will deliver more innovative products over the coming years.

Meanwhile, Ethereum controls 18% of the market capitalization of cryptocurrencies and more than 70% of decentralized finance. Polkadot, Tron, Solana, EOSIO, and Cardano could become Ethereum Killers someday, but they will have to do more to be able to unseat the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.