The Ethereum Network remains one of the most popular blockchains for new cryptocurrencies and crypto-based apps thanks, in part, to its smart contracts capabilities, and new data for 2018 suggests a network wrought with projects and growing trust amongst industry colleagues.
Ethereum Is a Loved Asset
Ethereum was a long-time holder of the number two position in the top ten list of largest cryptocurrencies by market cap. As of late, that position is now held by Ripple and its cryptocurrency XRP, though trust in the Ethereum network hasn’t gone down – despite ether’s price drop from roughly $1,400 in February to about $88 at press time.
No doubt, a crypto winter has gathered on the horizon, but Ethereum, itself, appears to be doing quite well. In 2018, the network processed a total of 353 million transactions. That’s an increase of approximately 100 million transactions in just the last six months alone. At the time of writing, the average number of daily transactions stands at nearly 610,000.
In addition, the network boasts a total of 49 million unique addresses all on its own – up from about 13 million in December of 2017.
Smart Contracts Can Do a Lot
As smart contracts capabilities have grown, deployments of such contracts have increased steadily over the past 12 months. Since June, approximately 200,000 new smart contracts have been created. This number surpassed the one million-mark in October, then hit 1.5 million last November. The Ethereum Network remains the most successful smart contracts platform in the cryptocurrency arena, accounting for roughly 96 percent of new coins entering the space.
The platform is also home to dozens of decentralized apps (dApps) including widely used Web3 browser extension MetaMask; the Truffle Framework tools suite, and the Loom Network, which allows gaming dApps to scale.
What About Other People?
Miner activity has also increased tenfold over the past year. Approximately 11,000 active nodes are currently interacting with the Ethereum Network. They cross over six different continents and have demonstrated strong geographic diversity. Miner rewards have also remained relatively consistent, with the average miner earning approximately 620,000 ETH a month.
And at the end of the day, the network’s popularity amongst the general population doesn’t appear to be diminishing. Reddit’s r/Ethereum community has more than doubled from approximately 176,000 members in December 2017 to around 418,000 at the end of this year. The network is also garnering newfound attention from venture capitalist firms like Andreessen Horowitz, which recently pledged roughly $15 million to MakerDAO – a project built on the Ethereum Network.
Will Ethereum’s growth continue into 2019? Why or why not? Post your comments below.
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