For many, investing in Ethereum has turned out to be a great choice. In March 2017, the price of an Ethereum coin was $30. The price as of March 2018 is $750. In that period of time, the value of ETH increased 25 times or 2500%. Therefore, if in March 2017 you have invested $1000 in ETH, at this moment you would have around $25,000 in Ethereum currency.
You invested about $1,000 in March 2017 and sold the same in December 2017. When it was at its peak ($1,350 per ETH), you have acquired about $45,000, with a small investment of $1,000. As you can see, the Ethereum coin has been a great investment so far. It is favored by many investors and is highly supported by the cryptocurrency industry as it is used by other developers to start new blockchain projects.
How to invest in Ethereum: History of the Ethereum currency
The idea of Ethereum was first proposed in late 2013 by Vitalik Buterin, a programmer who thought that Bitcoin needed a way for developers to create their own applications on the blockchain. When that idea was rejected by Bitcoin developers, Buterin formed the Ethereum core team with three other people: Mihai Alisie, Anthony Di Iorio, and Charles Hoskinson. In mid-2014, they started fostering the Ethereum coin, and in July and August 2014, they supported and sent off it through an internet based public deal. From that point forward, this group has made numerous enhancements to the coin.
How to invest in Ethereum: Should I invest in Ethereum for the long term?
While investing in Ethereum has made a lot of money for its early investors, there are those who have also lost money. The truth is that the price of all cryptocurrencies goes up and down daily. It is a very strange and volatile market. For this same reason, if you want to invest in Ethereum for the long term, you must be willing to maintain your investment no matter what happens, you must never panic when selling!
These are some of the reasons why Ethereum could be a strong long-term investment.
The adoption of Ether
The entire cryptocurrency industry is still young, and as it grows, so should it. It is one of the few coins that are use by ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings), which means that it acts as a launch pad for new cryptocurrencies. This makes it a valuable platform for the community and means that the price of Ether could continue to grow as more people continue to use it.
Currently, ETH is considered one of the three most used cryptocurrencies for purchases and payments. As the sector continues to grow, currency may continue to be one of the main currencies that people will use to carry out all types of transactions. Taking these two factors into account, the Ethereum coin has the potential to be a great long-term investment.
Blockchain improvements
Another reason why the Ethereum coin could be a good long-term investment is that more improvements are planned in the future. These new improvements could represent a big hit for it and cause the price of ETH to go up!
Although there are new blockchain competing with Ethereum, the right set of improvements could keep Ethereum in the lead. The fact that so many people are using the Ethereum coin could give it a huge advantage over other newer and similar blockchain.
Proof-of-Stake technology
Currently Bitcoin and Ethereum use a system called POW (Proof of Work) to validate transactions. However, its plans to do an upgrade, which will move Ethereum to a POS (Proof of Stake) system. The difference between the two systems is complicate, but in a nutshell, they are two different ways of verifying transactions on the blockchain.
The POW method requires a large amount of electricity and computing power, while the POS method is energy and cost efficient.
If the Ethereum currency managed to implement the Proof of Stake system, it could increase the value of it and become more decentralized than Bitcoin. This would mean that the its network could be more secure than Bitcoin. Currently, only those who can afford the most powerful mining equipment can afford to mine Bitcoin and Ethereum.
The disadvantages of investing in Ethereum in the long term:
- There are better investments that can be made in the sector. While you could make good money investing in it , there are other investments that could make you more money.
- Long-term holding, also known as HODL (holding on for dear life) does not allow you to take advantage of market volatility and make short-term profits.
- Even though Ethereum is one of the biggest cryptocurrencies today, no one knows if another coin could become more popular and preferred. While many people speculate that it will remain on top, a better solution could come and take its place. There are simply no guarantees.
- Government regulations could come into force, which could cause the price of it to drop, you should always be aware of new regulations! If they go into effect, which could cause serious damage to the price of Ether, you should consider withdrawing your investment.
