Failed Assassinations: Why Ethereum is Still the Blockchain King
If you’ve spent any time in crypto, you’re bound to have come across the expression “Ethereum killer.” Generally, it’s used to describe a promising up-and-coming network threatening to eat Ethereum’s lunch, poach its developers, and bring about its downfall. Yet whoever’s dispatching these would-be assassins ought to ask for their money back, because far from shuffling off this mortal coil, Ethereum’s thriving.
The Numbers Don’t Lie
As it prepares to celebrate its 10th anniversary this July, the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) platform continues to be an immovable object at the industry’s top table, a status afforded it by the success of its eponymous Virtual Machine (EVM) as well as its deep liquidity. Long established as the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, the network’s seen off more killers than a prime Muhammad Ali.
Ali’s greatness is born out by the figures: the number of title victories and years at boxing’s summit. Likewise, numbers emphasize Ethereum’s refusal to yield to the litany of Kill Bill-esque assassins trying to bump it off its perch. Whether we’re talking weekly active addresses (which recently soared past 10 million), gas prices (now flirting with record lows), or stablecoin volume ($122 billion in stablecoins hosted), it’s hard to argue against Ethereum’s dominance.
Of course, the network’s been the top defi chain for a long time now, and though its current TVL of $46.8 billion across 1,300+ protocols is way down on all-time highs, it’s still leading the pack. It’s also the preferred platform of institutions: over 90% of tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) are on the network, and BlackRock’s BUIDL fund – its first tokenized venture – disproportionately relies on Ethereum. Of the $4.17 million in dividends paid out last month, $3.5 million was on Ethereum. And of the ~$25M it has disbursed to date, $22.8M of it has been paid to Ethereum, with the remainder scattered across six other chains.
It almost feels superfluous to mention the $2.3 billion in ETH ETF inflows as of April 4, 2025. Yeah, nobody’s killing this behemoth anytime soon.
Superior Tech, Committed Community
There are so many different factors that can be credited for Ethereum’s enduring success that it’s kind of hard to know where to begin. I suppose, as with many things, the best thing to do is consult the heart. And in the case of Ethereum, its beating heart is the aforementioned Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM).
A runtime environment that’s become the gold standard for smart contracts, EVM compatibility powers a sprawling ecosystem, letting developers build decentralized applications (dApps) that run seamlessly across chains. EVM-compatible L1s and L2s litter the landscape.
From DeFi to RWAs, the Ethereum Virtual Machine has made the network the go-to for innovation. Case in point, noncustodial ‘crypto bank’ Silo which is gearing up to roll out its V2 on Ethereum and associated EVM-compatible chains like Arbitrum, and Base, having recently launched on Sonic. Silo’s high-yield money markets and permissionless market-creation tools are a testament to how the EVM empowers developers to push boundaries.
EVM might please devs, but liquidity is what fuels the ecosystem’s growth, making Ethereum the ultimate playground for traders and investors (read: degens). Of course, it’s all part of the same flywheel: liquidity attracts innovation, and innovation in turn draws more liquidity, the better to support activities like staking, saving, lending, and borrowing.
Naturally, it doesn’t hurt that Ethereum’s developer community is a broad church, one whose very brainy citizenry has been busy building, iterating, and innovating for the past ten years. It’s widely considered the strongest dev community in crypto, no mean feat considering the almost religious fervor of Bitcoin builders.
A Decade of Dominance – and More to Come
A decade of operation isn’t the next major milestone for Ethereum, incidentally: that would be next month’s Pectra upgrade, which is expected to reduce gas fees, tackle network congestion, and raise validator staking limits to streamline large-scale operations.
Post-Pectra, Ethereum will want to make sure its 10-year anniversary is marked by a victory parade – although realistically, the wider market will have to play ball for that to happen. In any case, whether the market turns bullish or bearish, expect Ethereum to keep trucking.
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