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The perception of Ethereum in the media has been a roller coaster since its inception in 2015, but the blockchain and its native Ether (ETH) cryptocurrency are clearly still seen as being in second place behind Bitcoin (BTC).
While Bitcoin rose to fame thanks to the infamous Silk Road darknet market and its $ 20,000 price spike in 2017, Ethereum has had fewer notable interactions with mainstream media, although some may refer to how it enabled the craze. initial coin offering and made trading virtual cats a worthwhile pastime.
Vitalik Buterin is the personification of Ethereum
Ethereum co-creator Vitalik Buterin was, and still is, significantly influential in shaping his image in the media. In stark contrast to Bitcoin’s anonymous Satoshi Nakamoto, Buterin has, for many, personified Ethereum.
This has made it easier for many to understand what Ethereum is, with its foundation led by Buterin and other prominent figures such as Gavin Wood of Parity Technologies and Joseph Lubin of Consensys.
Anyone who doubts Buterin’s influence should consider the extensive reporting in the crypto media of anything Buterin has written on Reddit or Twitter – where he currently has just under 1 million followers – during the ICO craze.
The temptation to merge Ethereum and its co-creator proved irresistible to the mainstream media and helped shape the way it reported on the fate and functioning of a blockchain that is supposed to work without trust.
In his 2018 interview with the Financial Times – a publication normally reserved for central bankers, CEOs and other dignitaries – Buterin is characterized as “running a $ 125 billion blockchain.”
The relatively favorable impression of Ethereum, compared to Bitcoin, in the mainstream media was shaped by the story of a 19-year-old programmer who started Bitcoin Magazine, one of the publications related to Bitcoin, to earn some BTC, which he did. eventually led to creating Ethereum, which spawned a whole wave of innovation for this emerging technology.
This story that intrigued many outsiders eventually led to a growing interest in Ethereum at a time when not many knew what it was.
The ICO craze and its bad reputation on cryptocurrencies
The ICO craze, which took off in 2017, drew mainstream attention to cryptocurrencies, but many would not have known how instrumental Ethereum was to this hype. However, he was instrumental in helping Ethereum become famous, but didn’t give it the best reputation when regulators like the United States Securities and Exchange Commission started cracking down on it in 2018.
This was also the time when the New York Times and Financial Times began publishing explanatory articles and cover news on the popular Ethereum-based fundraising method, which helped educate and inform the public about it.
It’s clear: The wave of innovation that has grown in 2017 has challenged and led many journalists in technology or finance to begin examining how the Ethereum blockchain and its smart contract offering have enabled applications and innovative projects on it.
Ethereum played a major role in making blockchain a buzzword that year and people started experimenting with putting everything from energy and ownership to data and our identities on the blockchain. It was at this time that cryptocurrency and blockchain journalists began to emerge in major financial publications such as Bloomberg, CNBC, Business Insider, and the Financial Times.
It was only when the SEC filed a class action claiming that the “tokens” launched by ICOs on Ethereum were considered stocks that the platform built a negative stigma around it.
Related: The Death of the ICO: Has the US SEC Shut the Global Window on New Tokens?
Ethereum is still behind the scenes at DApps and DeFi
Even as Ethereum fosters further technological leaps with the rise of decentralized applications, or DApps, such as Cryptokitties and fuels the explosion of decentralized finance, or DeFi – which is close to hitting the $ 4 billion valuation mark – it still doesn’t seem to be getting. much of the glory in the mainstream press.
Despite this, reports of people buying virtual kittens for up to $ 170,000 have helped mainstream media grasp the concept of non-fungible tokens in an easy-to-understand and recognizable way.
This shows that with all things cryptocurrency, assigning a high dollar amount to the crypto value will grab media attention, which in turn helps raise awareness of Ether as a cryptocurrency.
Meanwhile, DeFi as Ethereum’s primary application is slowly entering the headspace of traditional financial media, albeit fueled by skepticism and concern.
As of this writing, Ether has hit an annual high price, with some saying this growth has been fueled by interest in DeFi driven by the popularity of yield farming as a way to earn passive income on your crypto assets.
What awaits us?
It’s 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic has turned the global economy upside down, leading people to seek alternative forms of finance, with the digital asset industry attracting some interest.
But even with the Ethereum 2.0 update looming and the sentiment of another cryptocurrency bull run, Ethereum may still have some time for mass adoption of its technology before standing on its own under the mainstream media spotlight.
The views, thoughts and opinions expressed herein are solely the author’s and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.
Samantha Yap is the founder and CEO of Yap Global, an international public relations firm working with fintech, blockchain and cryptocurrency companies. Samantha is a fintech, blockchain and cryptocurrency media specialist with past experience as an international freelance journalist in Jakarta, Melbourne, Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong. Prior to delving into fintech PR, she worked at Channel NewsAsia in Singapore as a TV reporter and news producer.
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