Key Takeaways
How is Ethereum dominating?
Ethereum dominated in developer activity, decentralized apps, and smart contracts.
Which “Ethereum killer” had the best chance?
Solana and BNB had the best chance, but new entrants like SUI and APT are redefining the crypto space.
Ethereum [ETH], for the longest time, held the second position in terms of adoption and capitalization across the cryptocurrency sector. ETH has been in the forefront when altcoins surge due to its position.
However, ETH dominance faces a challenge from the “Ethereum killers,” like BNB Smart Chain [BSC], Solana [SOL], and Sui Network [SUI], among others.
Ethereum’s market dominance
Ethereum has been dominating in smart contracts, decentralized applications, and developer activities in the crypto space. ETH and its Layer 2 solutions led the way in attracting new developers this year.
The ETH blockchain has facilitated the development of decentralized applications such as Aave Protocol [AAVE] and Uniswap [UNI], among others.
More than 16,000 devs joined the Ethereum ecosystem, outpacing second-placed Solana.
Additionally, the L1 blockchain has played a big role in providing a layer for the issuance of stablecoins.
In fact, USDT usage on Ethereum hit an ATH with a 400% rise since the lows seen in September 2023. The monthly transfer volume neared $600 million.
Source: Token Terminal
Setting this dominance aside, we will be examining the factors that could define the landscape by 2030.
Factors to define this landscape
Revenue generation, gas fees, scalability, developer growth, and speed are some of the highlights that could define the landscape by 2030.
For instance, Ethereum’s scheduled Fusaka upgrade on the 3rd of December will address gas fees and scalability.
Source: The Wolf of All Streets
“Ethereum killers” complemented the developer’s question. For instance, Solana had 11,534 new developers, which was only 5,000 less compared to ETH and its L2s.
The numbers indicated increasing developer activity.
For revenue generation, SOL also lagged behind Ethereum. Despite this, its native apps generated $3B in the past year, with A16Z venture giant predicting this value could double due to the upcoming upgrades.
Leading “Ethereum killers” by 2030
Currently, BSC, SOL, Avalanche [AVAX], and SUI are considered the leading “Ethereum killers.” The Total Value Locked (TVL) was one of the metrics that could help uncover the rhetoric.
The TVL of BSC, SOL, AVAX, and SUI had $14.47B, $27.21B, $3.79B, and $3.29B, respectively. However, all these values were dwarfed by ETH’s $209.98 billion.
Source: DefiLlama
Another new entrant apart from SUI in this list was Aptos [APT], which was using the same technology as that of SUI. Its TVL was at $1.09 billion when writing.
Summary of competition’s stakes
Looking at the data sets covered in the article, Solana was positioned best to give ETH this competition by the year 2030.
Furthermore, new entrants like SUI and APT had a fantastic chance following their scalability and speeds.