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Kosala Hemachandra is the founder of MEW (MyEtherWallet), a client-side open source interface for generating etereum portfolios and interacting with the blockchain ethereum.
The following is an exclusive contribution for the 2018 year of CoinDesk under consideration.
For the most part, Bitcoin and Ethereum held the title of the first two cryptocurrencies with the largest market capitalization. But in the last year, we have noticed that the second place for the crypto market share is in constant change between XRP and Ethereum – first in September and more recently in November and December.
With many other coins left in the shadow of their 2017 value, fear and uncertainty have led many to wonder if Ethereum will survive next season. I think without a shadow of a doubt that Ethereum is not going anywhere, and given that the least significant blockchains are eliminated, it will be for Ethereum an opportunity to develop a much needed advantage.
As we move towards 2019, there is still a lot of work to do. Here are five questions. I think the community should ask ourselves if we really want BUIDL for a future for cryptocurrencies.
1. What happened to the promise of dapps and smart contracts?
There were already over 200 cryptocurrencies when the Ethereum network went live in 2014. But what made it revolutionary was the emergence of smart contracts and, more specifically, contracts like ERC-20, a universal standard that would allow different tokens to exist on the same blockchain.
Developers could program a truly decentralized (app) application on the Ethereum blockchain using smart contracts: a simple program that will automatically perform an action as soon as a specific criterion is met.
There are many great projects that already demonstrate how dapps can improve the user experience. For example, ENS (Ethereum Name Service) is a solution that allows users to transform their hexadecimal portfolios address into a unique domain name.
Another extraordinary application of technology is decentralized plants or liquidity providers like Kyber Network, which help to connect the increasingly fragmented token ecosystem. MakerDAO and the Collateralized Debt Position contract (CDP) are another notable example, as it allows users to take a loan in a stablecoin by putting on Ethereum as collateral.
It is impressive to see how all these things can work in a completely decentralized and untrustworthy way to meet needs that would otherwise require centralized authority. However, while the community devotes its efforts to leading mainstream adoption, I think we are still at least five years away from seeing a world that attracts road man.
I encourage the developers of the former to concentrate on building ecosystems with the user experience and the adoption of newcomers in mind. We can not ignore that in recent years the Ethereum community has expanded beyond the technically competent to include even the crypto-curious. This change is a good thing and our platforms and solutions must look at how we can accommodate newcomers.
2. Have we finally finished with ICO?
The ICOs were the best and worst thing that could happen to the cryptocurrency industry. Like it or not, it was a catalyst to arouse interest in space, stimulate innovation and drive its growing adoption. In 2017, companies raised over $ 5.5 billion through the ICO route and in the first three months of 2018, peaked at $ 6.3 billion.
This injection of funds into the market has created an increase in interest for the part of the mainstream media and, as a result, this has attracted more and more crypto-curious individuals into the blockchain world.
However, unfortunately, when the price of Ethereum has taken off, it has given many original developers a seven to eight-digit reason to cash out. Many developers who helped create, launch and maintain the Ethereum blockchain have gone away, taking their brilliant minds, vision and guiding with them. Although this was unlucky, it allowed us to filter out the developers who were only there to get financial gains instead of the lawsuit.
The wider Ethereum community has not self-regulated, nor has it helped to safeguard users. Over 80% of the ICO projects launched in 2017 have been identified as scammers, leaving behind a negative stigma and a very cautious public.
The most interesting thing is that with the ICO mania finally cooling off, a growing number of cryptic companies are turning to traditional and venture capital funding to provide them with a sufficient track to overcome the current market.
3. How can we ensure that the community of Ethereum grows together, instead of separating?
This season will not only be a test for the strength of Ethereum technology, but also how we will evolve as a community. The case for Ethereum survival begins with its main developers working for a common cause.
Bitcoin may be the most used blockchain right now, but its developers are constantly in conflict with each other and often resort to a hard bifurcation when they try to reach a solution to their differences. With Ethereum, developers are forced to work together, instead, looking for solutions based on compromise and collaboration.
This could be attributed to the leadership of the Ethereum Foundation. Unlike the anonymous creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, the co-founders of Ethereum actively engage with the ecosystem, bringing together a sense of camaraderie through events such as the annual Ethereum Developer Conference, DevCon, which this & # 39; year held its fourth edition in Prague.
What we have built together as a community is undoubtedly impressive, but we can not rest on our laurels.
Now more than ever, it is important to keep good talent across the industry. In the midst of these volatile market conditions, we can not afford another brain drain and it is critical that intelligent and committed people are drawn into this field and incentivized by goals that are not purely financial.
4. How can we restore trust in the crypt?
Thanks to Ico, work is needed to renew the contaminated image of Ethereum and restore confidence in blockchain technology.
Many newcomers have not even had the chance to know how revolutionary the technology is because so many bad actors have taken advantage of it. Looking back now, the community would have to work together to protect consumers by raising awareness about scams and bad projects.
Many of these, such as BitKRX claiming to be a subsidiary of the South Korean Stock Exchange, deceived investors by proposing themselves as respectable affiliates and could be discovered with proactive investigations or if journalists engaged in further research.
It is extremely important for us to educate the community on how to find genuine projects among all the scams. To transform a new leaf, we can start making it easier for beginners to crypt by providing more materials and resources tailored to them.
After all, doing an encrypted transaction is not as intuitive as creating one through the current banking system. We should not forget that most of us have grown up within a traditional financial ecosystem and building similar best practices in the cryptic world will take time.
5. How can we put ourselves in BUIDL for the better?
It may take a while before Ethereum arrives where it should be, but it may not be the worst thing. While reserving time for slow construction may seem like a luxury that the Ethereum community can not afford, it's what will make it different for years to come.
To put things in perspective, Bitcoin took about a decade before capturing the public's attention.
A constant and thoughtful approach is what is needed. To lay the foundations, teams should consider how they can strategically devote their resources and funding to build support tools while nurturing strong developer talent.
Until then, keeping up and regularly striking the milestones of product development is what is needed to keep the community interested and motivated towards the cause.
Have an opinion of 2018? CoinDesk is looking for proposals for our 2018 under consideration. News via e-mail [at] coindesk.com to learn how to be involved.
Vitalik Buterin image through CoinDesk archives
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