What is ETH actually for? What's so good about it?
I no nothing about it apart from its premined right? And there is no cap.
What are the good points?
It can do everything that bitcoin can, plus can scale and do stuff that bitcoiners used to talk about, like smart contracts.
Oh, did I mention it's not a SHA256 coin, meaning it's not controlled by the Chinese exchange/mining cartel?
But, to be honest, that's just a backstory too, like people totally using BTC because it's simpler than using a CC. In truth, it's just a really profitable coin with good volume
Mind to give a proof about eth can scale ?
Bitcoin is a supersecure blockchain, other thinks can be bulid on top of it, e.g. rootstock or lightning . No need for fancy feutures. Just a good secure protocol.
And if bitcoin enters the next hyper bubble the red candle in your eth chart will be EPIC.
Well, the basic idea was, to make a decentralized network computer executing smart-contracts (not especially for a currency function, more like automated "transactions", colour tokens (like open company shares), crowdfunding (like this DAO monstrosity:)), where ether is the "fuel" to run the scripts. So it is highly different from the Bitcoin network in regard of its purpose.
But, there are problems with this idea. Both technical and social:
1. it uses a Turing-complete scripting language, so it can create infinite loops - this is supposed to be negated by using ether for every processing cycle, but still can jam up the network for awhile in theory, it is an attack vector;
2. the problem of scaling: it can not, because, every script (smart contract) must be run by every node, or the network spilt, so it can get much-much-much more hardware heavy than processing a ~300 bytes bitcoin tx.
Also, the ORDERING is different (and uncontrollable) for different nodes - because how data propagates on a network, which can totally fukup the whole idea of interdependent contracting aka: the order how script I. or script II. occupies/operates in the next block can be paramount, if scI depends on the execution of scII., and they get implemented in a different time order, they crush (fail to run, since the dependency is behind the execution order for every node downloading the new block with executable scripts -"transactions").
In short, the interblock ordering of "transactions" are not necessarily interchangeable, while in bitcoin, they are! That is a key technical unavoidable difference. The proposed solution, to split the nodes to process different executable is against the basic idea, and creates more profound problems...
3. strictly speaking, Ethereum has no (yet) known enforceable, algorithmic monetary policy (we do not know if it is fixed at what number or what is the inflation rate if not, how exactly will it transform into the PoS consensus, also, PoS can not work on the long run, because it has too many attack vectors, especially with a script running environment). Also, pre-mined -huge red flag -, which means very strong centralization, and direct control over the protocol in few hands (remember, no anonym PoW random nonce mining took place, because, premining!!!).
In bitcoin, after and since the genesis block, anyone can see the unchangeable monetary policy: 21mil coins, reward drop after every 210,000 blocks, PoW consensus.
4. those who were studying the DAO made it obvious - even before the shameful "IPO" ended -, that you can not use the same token directly for financing actual projects, while the investor's tokens are both committed (frozen), and an external force (the market price of ETH) can interfere with those project's financial plans. (If the DAO commits say, 100k ether to a project, which is supposed to worth $100k, but suddenly ETH drops 10%, they won't be able to pay the contractors, and they already committed, and can not change their "votes", while can not have enough $ - unless the contractor takes ETH, but than he faces the same problem - DAO could work, IF crypto would only be the de facto world currency, but only than).
5. Assmaster, i disagree. Bitcoin is scaling, BECAUSE it is a dumb network (LN for example). Just like Ethernet, or tcp/ip, they are dumb, but additional layers can use the easy, secure, simple basis of it. Ethereum is too complicated in itself to be layered on, forces way too complicated and self-conflicting goals to nodes, and never actually was designed to be a currency (it is a script running network platform, not designed to be an immutable, decentralized trust network with several exahash/s security power).
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