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I don't get why people are so hyped about ETH's switch to PoS (The Merge) when we already had other PoS blockchains in the first place (eg: Cardano, BNB). Competing chains often add new features before ETH does. Even Zilliqa adopted "Sharding" (which is a scaling technique), before ETH did. Yet, ZIL's price is nothing compared to ETH. If ETH is always one step behind, then why it's extremely valuable? Doesn't that make ETH overpriced? I'd say the same about Bitcoin, but no other crypto outmatches its level of decentralization and censorship-resistance.

What are your thoughts? ???

Ethereum was first to have smart contracts afaik — being early advantage, and community matters a lot in valuing a coin. Just look at doge.

Its because its the first one and we all knew that early projects have edge on this and trusted more by people. Look on bitcoin, it doesnt have much dapps or any use case aside from being traded, and store of value but still its number 1. Theres a lot of other projects with expandable and flexible features that those but they are yet to be beaten. Its not all about tech but also the mark they imprinted on community. They are famous enough that the competition on tech which is more advance are disregarded.

I'd say ethereum is as valuable as it is now because it has a large community of investors, one that is far greater than any other altcoin in the market, most of those altcoins that implement new features earlier than Ethereum are relatively unknown, and even if they have made a good implementation to their network, nobody talks about it, and thus if Ethereum makes that same move/implementation, it breaks the news, and thus most people erroneously think Ethereum was the first to make the implementation. But it is what it is, they have the trust of a large community, so these are the advantages they receive in return.

Reputation and being the early bird.
It's human nature to go back to its ancestors which works better than the new ones.
Thinking about the learning process when you transition to a new kind of chain or project, it will consume time and there's the chance of having a hard time getting used to it.
Its value will still reflect in the usage and I think a big amount of investors and developers are not ready for a change yet.

It is all about the marketing. ETH has many shills everywhere willing to defend their investments like it is a matter of life and death. IOTA used to have that kind of shills too but now they are all gone. I wonder why?  ;D

You are right that they bring out PoS like it is the world’s 8th wonder even though it has been around for years.

People are looking for any news to pump their bags now. They don’t care if the news is good or bad. Anything will do and PoS is just that. It is just another nothingburger they are hyping up.

Yes, Ethereum is the first coin with a smart contract, it's like bitcoin. Bitcoin is regarded to be the creator of the crypto market, while Ethereum is regarded to be the creator of the altcoin market. Ethereum has been deeply imprinted on people's minds, it is the pioneer coin in altcoins, most trusted by many people. Like we compare bitcoin to gold, bitcoin is superior to gold in many ways but gold is a proven older asset so it is safer than bitcoin.

I used to hype Ethereum merge because I thought it will fix the high gas fee, if this was the case Ethereum might likely out perform BTC in this bear market in terms of profit but now we have been given more reason to find a better ETH instead, bravo @ vitalik buterin, bravo.

People worry about the fact that usually something new is scary than already established moments. Initially, as always, there will be suspicions and checks. ETH is one of the founders of the whole technology in general and this important component cannot be underestimated. Progress is moving forward and such dinosaurs will always be in their place and offer new development.

Hype was regarding its existence through PoW and large number of miners working on it around the world and question about “what will happen next to their equipment’s”? Everyone is still terrified since mining is no longer option for them in terms ETH mining.

That’s the hype about it and it’s reasonable.

Now there is option (which isn’t official) they can operate the proposed fork network tagged ETHPoW, for EthereumPoW (ETHW). But this isn’t available and that’s why it’s problem for the miners.

Networks effects and infrastructure is too valuable. It doesn't matter, for instance, if someone develops a cool privacy feature that Bitcoin doesn't have. It would lack the userbase, the brand, the everything.

Similar for Ethereum. Network effects are too powerful.

Copying Ethereum and then "making it better" (very debatable) has proven to be, over the long run, a failing strategy.

In order to be successful you need to invent something. You need to create Bitcoin for money. You need to create Ethereum for smart contracts. You need to create XYZ to fill a market need that doesn't exist to become a market leader with sufficient network effects.

historically speaking, ethereum has always had a very enthusiastic community behind the project, and has been supported by operators in the sector (exchanges) or other "big companies" (it is not just that google has supported the merge with a lot of doodle or countdown)
they also have the advantage of being a well-known crypto even outside the circle of those interested in this sector.

the price pump from launch to date has created an attraction, as well as several tokens or NFTs that have chosen the launch on their blockchain as their primary option.
We have all seen how in 2017 ICOs "changed" this sector making it extremely mainstream ... and vast majority/successful have been launched here.

Because the Ethereum project is supported by very serious market makers, who act as manipulators. It is thanks to them that Ethereum and its futures are traded on major world exchanges. Zil and other projects do not have such support and liquidity, so this project is not interesting and its price is falling.

Initially Ethereum is a Proof of Work coin that is understandable back in years ago when Bitcoin is the biggest cryptocurrency and other altcoins copied its algorithm, code. Ethereum is a pioneer in altcoin space with smart contract but Vitalik and Ethereum team decided to stay with PoW.

You are right that many altcoins had Proof of Stake years ago, even in the 2017 bull run, not recently.

I guess Ethereum team believed in PoW in early years and when they decided to build and switch to PoS, their network simply was too big already. Consequently, they were fearful of mistake, bugs and delayed the upgrades for years.

also, even if eth platform seems to be late with switching to PoS, i think people have more confidence as Vitalik is a visible figure behind this network. and we know, he won't fail his supporters. unlike some new networks, the possibility of cashing out and disappear is highly probable. but with Buterin behind Eth, i don't think we will not see some warning signals if he decides to exit this market.

This is a proof that once you lead the market at the early stage, you will get the respect of many and that's why ETH remains the top altcoins despite of many problems we have encountered especially with slow transactions and a higher fees. Yes, ETH got hyped by merging into POS network maybe because many sees a good update for this one since POW is not working good for ETH anymore. This is a long term plan for ETH that's why many are so optimistic about the possible result of this merge. We all have our own analysis with regards to this, and personally I'm also bullish on this.

Before Cardano or BNB existed Ethereum was the first to exist for crypto, that's why from the past until now many people still hold their Ethereum, it's just that at that time Ethereum gas was getting higher and some people might switch to BNB. After the Ethereum merger, there may be a lot of people chasing Ethereum because the current price is still relatively low and gas is not as high as it used to be.

It's a normal feeling that humans feel every time there as an upcoming event and maybe those who are so hyped about it have been a fan of eth since then. They are expecting that the merge can help eth became better in terms of value, fees and others. Sure there are first pos projects than eth but they are not the main altcoin. I think the impact will be different when the same thing have been applied to eth.

Eth may be one step behind compared to those coins but that was before but now not anymore because eth have finally joined the bandwagon. Eth isn't overpriced yet but its current value is still lower compared to it's last year's price.

in fact, ethereum was the first, it was the forerunner to have smart contracts and to have erc 20 tokens and nft on its blockchain is true there are already other altcoins that are pos, the only difference? that ethereum is worth much more

Tech, even if it would be developed first by other chains is irrelevant without developers building with it and user base using it. And most of this tech is easy to adapt to eth anyway. Not everything but most. If there will be a superior chain that's not eth, using cutting edge tech that's hard implement to eth, developers slowly will move to it. But ETH has all the brainiacs and no other chain attracts as much geniuses so i woudn't hold by breath anyone beating eth any time soon.

It is the 2nd largest coin in the crypto industry, there is a large community behind it, so it is no wonder that it is receiving such great interest and the ETH upgrade to POS will help ETH is better. As you said, we have had a lot of proof-of-stake altcoins in the past and outperformed ETH in terms of technology, so why hasn't there been a coin that has overtaken ETH as the best altcoin yet? ETH is very slow, gas fees are high but it is always the first choice of large projects, showing that it is still safer and better than BNB or ADA. Now I will wait and see what other altcoins will do when ETH has moved POS like them. The altcoin war is now really starting.

I also think this is one of the reason why ETH is somehow "overpriced".  There are lots of project running on ETH network that supports the ETH economy.  So even though ETH is a step behind in the Tech competition, they have the populace of project that support their price in the market.  In short, ETH have more usage than those who are ahead in technology.

whether it's bitcoin or ethereum they stay longer than ziqilla or other coins that rank below them. both coins have been successful in gaining their community, building strong fundamentals that are not easy to compete with. even if there is a coin that has good technology, it will not be able to compete with bitcoin and ethereum because of the trust of the community.

ETH might be late on the adoption but it is still consider the top altcoins, many still believe that ETH is taking the path at the perfect timing, this update might outdate already since many coins already under the POS network but this will still play a big role for ETH, the best price is yet to come and ETH will be having more updates. The community still trust ETH, especially the big investors that can still be the reason to stay active on top.

ethereum is only inferior to technology but it never lags behind in the rankings and remains second only to bitcoin from anyone's view. I wonder why ethereum uses technology in general, different as ziqilla does because it's better to use technology that is easy for everyone to understand than great technology but confused to use, but I hope it also has high security.

Ethereum has been around the longest and has earned people's trust. Newer coins like Solana might be better in some regards but it has had stability issues. Every ETH competitor I have seen is incredibly centralized. BNB, SOL, and AVA all have companies who are running the network. A lot of these coins grew in popularity because of ETH's scaling issues. Once ETH starts having issues again we might see these coins start to gain market share again.

I don't think it's all about technology, but also the mark they print in the community, that's what makes ETH always so attractive and valuable, apart from being first in smart contracts, ETH has always been second in the shadow of Bitcoin always being the first first , next BNB,CARDANO and ZIL under ETH

Ethereum has a clear founder and is developed by many developers. This makes it one of the most trusted platforms.
What's more, blockchain makes Ether currency have a decentralized system. It can be an alternative for the banking world today.

And that makes ETH more valuable than others. I have no claim if it was overpriced or not but because we see ETH gains such a reputation and trust, people will still buy and buy this coin.
Maybe we could say how ETH wins the competition, it was the choice of the investors even though there are other projects similar to its market application. Besides, we can't dictate these investors just like how the invest in shitcoins and meme coins.

Highly speculative investments do not come without risk! For Ethereum, I think it has a lot of potential. The biggest challenge in the last few months was scaling the network to allow more transactions to be processed per second. Once those issues are resolved, I'm sure we'll see Ethereum used in new and exciting ways.

Meanwhile,

https://talkimg.com/images/2023/05/14/blobd1cdc15c6df5de35.jpeg

And it has been so since last few months, not just rare occurance.

i'm curious to see how Ethereum develops further, now that they supposedly want to be so power efficient... that certainly goes down well these days....

If it's not bitcoin, It is Ethereum, people have already gotten used to that, and it is going to be difficult to change that narrative.
Just after bitcoins, people trooped to ETH hence its very large community. Just as some hold bitcoins and then some selected altcoins, people hold ETH with some selected altcoins still.

It's the hype of the long-awaited big change. I doubt it will be long unlike ICO, NFT, and others who made the trend for quite a while before it calmed down. Maybe because it's brand new, from POW to POS, how will it happen. From high charges in fees and slow transaction to an expectation of cutting it down in cents and less traffic.
But it's not happening yet but imo, that's all I want to witness and maybe others have the same expectation.

If Zilliqa there are problems with the introduction of Sharding, then these problems would not have such a big significance for the cryptocurrency market, as if the Ethereum network had faced this. For this reason, Ethereum developers will again test Sharding technology in test networks before it appears on the main network in 2023.

Ethereum is big, both the community and company scale, so the decision to finally move to PoS will not be as easy as other smaller project. And the reasons why ETH is still preferred by most people is because it's the first, it already built it's reputation. I don't think this issue is a big problem for ETH as long as they do the things better than the competitors.

but becoming a POS is like taking more than 100 steps backwards which is now making it more centralized. we have seen USDT being frozen before the POS shifting. this time the freezing of funds might be rampant if the SEC get the hold of ETH holders and exchanges.

they are also targeting BTC to change its codes to become POS. crypto will die so we really need something better than ETH which tokens  can migrate there.

it's about trust. unless ziqilla is able to get the same or greater public trust than ethereum at this time, it can only be said that ziqilla exceeds ethereum. However ethereum is a long built project of course its fundamentals are much more solid and more trustworthy than the others.

They are consistent in developing their product and constantly updating it until it becomes better than before. If you know how bad their website was back then, you will appreciate their work when you look at the site right now. That's one of the secrets of a successful project when you are true to your roadmaps and won't leave your investors hanging when things are not going right. They're just amazing when it comes to adopting the current trend and they won't gonna be outdated because they know exactly what to do when a new popular thing will appear in the future in the crypto industry.

Yes it looks like Ethereum is lagging behind projects like ziliqa and BNB, but Ethereum was the first developer to create a smart contract system and adopt POW consensus because at that time mining systems like Bitcoin became Hype.
The idea of ethereum is very good, when the ecosystem is running well and many projects are using the network, then this (POS) idea appears to solve the congestion problem that often occurs.

eth has a huge trust advantage over new projects and even if they have better features this will not change so fast

Ethereum has a first mover advantage over the majority of the coins we have in the market, and even if the ethereum developers take a lot more time to implement some features that have been available in other coins for a long time people still get excited over it.

However while like the first mover advantage that bitcoin has is insurmountable, this is not the case for the first mover advantage that ethereum has, in my opinion ethereum will eventually be surpassed by another coin and when that happens its value will decrease dramatically.

seems a bit difficult to explain this problem and this is just my personal opinion.  why is ETH and BTC so much more valuable than cardano and BNB when their technology is ahead of ETH and BTC? the same thing also happens when doge and shiba that do not have any utility have a price or market capitalization that is greater than the ICP which has a lot of utility.
basically the price is not only influenced by utility or technology because many factors also affect the price.

That's certainly true, mate. I think there are more shills on Ethereum than any other competing cryptocurrency project. So many VCs, institutional investors, and companies are pouring money into ETH like crazy, even though the same is heavily congested and utterly-expensive. Competing chains often have better features than ETH, but they're overlooked simply because the latter has all of the publicity. It's all a matter of marketing/promotion tactics. ETH has first mover advantage on the market, so it's unlikely it'll lose its place as the second-largest crypto by market cap anytime soon. At least, there are a wide array of options to choose from. As long as decentralization prevails, nothing else matters. Just my opinion :)

Ethereum has already established its own smart network before these new arising competitors have shown up. The reason that even Ethereum has its own flaws, people will never lost their trust in it because it has already been built through the years. And knowing the fact that all these new competitors are only clones from Ethereum, so they will never get the full trust from its own users.

The only thing I see about ethereum is that it enjoys being the first alternative to Bitcoin and being the first to house a lots of external projects on its blockchain.

Another about the reason for ethereum being performing in price more than other alternatives which are obviously (to the pros) better in term of development is because most of the new crypto investor do not know about the technology and technical aspects of what they invest into. So, they rather go for the big name in the Cryptocurrency world which ethereum conveniently belongs to.

Exactly. The only thing keeping ETH as the biggest crypto after Bitcoin is the first-mover advantage. If it wasn't by that, ETH would've been "eaten" by its competitors already. I guess it's not about what new features a coin has, but rather how secure and reliable a coin is. Compared to other smart contract platforms, ETH is the most widely-developed and trusted cryptocurrency on the planet after Bitcoin. I guess that's more than enough for ETH to retain its place as the "King of altcoins" for a long time.

While I don't like the ever-rising gas fees of the ETH blockchain, no other competitor outmatches its level of decentralization and censorship-resistance (although it can be debated with the recent switch to PoS). People will ultimately decide which coin stays at the top, and which coin goes all the way down the drain. At least, the competition is healthy. As long as there are a wide variety of options to choose from, nothing else matters. Just my opinion :)

You are only thinking about cryptocurrencies as a piece of technology which can be discarded at will and that is not the way it works, any currency in order to thrive needs the trust from its users.

And bitcoin has a trust that is way above all the cryptocurrencies we have in the market put together, and if to this we add that bitcoin is actually used to buy and sell things and not only to speculate then it is easy to see why even if other coins claim to have a better technology they will never surpass bitcoin despite the best efforts of their developers.