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I would argue that Ethereum is where it's headed. Ethereum does everything that Litecoin/Bitcoin does along with a smart contract programming layer built into i

I would argue that Ethereum is where it's headed. Ethereum does everything that Litecoin/Bitcoin does along with a smart contract programming layer built into it, and a great team of incredibly smart people iterating on the platform. Millions upon millions of dollars are being poured into companies built around Ethereum for a reason. If you look at the open positions for Consensys you can see just how many positions and projects one company has going on.

arca_vorago 9y ago
I would argue Monero is the first stop before the coins figure out a more environmentally friendly method, because the killer feature of a currency is anonymity. I don't know much about ethereum though, does it offer anonymity functions of some sort?
- cantrip 9y ago
  Both environmental friendlyness and anonymity are on the roadmap.
juanmirocks 9y ago
Less not forget the competitors to Ethereum too, such as EOS or Cardano. These should provide better scalability.
- cantrip 9y ago
  As soon as I can experiment with programming an EOS or Cardano smart contract I'll be happy to comment on their viability, but as far as I can figure out you can't, or at least no one is doing it. Ethereum has a working smart contract on the foundation website, as well as an online compiler to test with.
  - juanmirocks 9y ago
    No doubt about. Either way, the newcomers are bringing new ideas that can also make Ethereum improve.
  - andrethegiant 9y ago
    The EOS testnet launched last week. You can play with it using eos.js: https://github.com/eosio/eosjs https://github.com/eosio/eosjs EOS looks like the most developer-friendly crypto I've seen. If you can write in a language that can compile to WebAssembly, then you can create a DApp on EOS.
- binocarlos 9y ago
  There is a bunch of work happening with Ethereum to address the scalability problem, namely Proof of Stake and Sharding as well as complimentary systems like Raiden that use the main blockchain for dispute resolution and not every payment. I expect 2018 to be a busy year for Ethereum development!
  - juanmirocks 9y ago
    Indeed. Same here. Either way competition will only make the cryptoassets and tools better.
grubles 9y ago
Anything Ethereum does can be done as a Bitcoin sidechain.
- igorgue 9y ago
  Sure, it can even with the same Smart Contract as Ethereum using Counterparty. It's just not done like that, or show me Bitcoin's Crowdfunding calendar, let me show you the hundreds there are for Ethereum... Not to mention, both are doomed with very high fees. I own both, but there are many improvements to go :)
SilasX 9y ago
Yes, in theory Ethereum is the better way. I was a strong believer in the "flippening" and exited some of my BTC position based on that belief. But ... it may be a long time before that theoretical superiority translates to practical. Ethereum has been plagued by a hard fork and semi-regular thefts that exploit hard-to-write contracts, plus the Parity bug: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/11/with-deletion-of-one-wallet-280-m-in-ethereum-wallets-gets-frozen/ https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/11/with-... None of this inspires confidence. Only after ETH can go for a while without these nightmares can it regain its well-deserved spot in the lead. (And imho that would involve a migration to a less error-prone language.) The closest Bitcoin had was the database code in a client implementation that had to be fixed (and had major consensus).
- amckenna 9y ago
  Those aren't equivalent comparisons. The issues with Ethereum have all been with regards to implementations of applications on top of the ETH layer - parity bug and DAO hack being the two biggest. Neither was due to mistakes in the underlying Ethereum protocol, both had to do with something that someone made using Ethereum. If I make a vulnerable website it's not nginx/Django/Postgres's fault. The reason Ethereum hasn't taken over the dominant position yet probably has more to do with Bitcoin's superior brand penetration. Most Bitcoin holders that I know personally have very little actual understanding of how any of the crypto currencies work under the hood, so they follow the general sentiment of the community/press and do not invest based on technical merits.
  - SilasX 9y ago
    The DAO hack itself wasn't the problem (in this context) -- the problem was having to deal with a network that does hard forks at a whim in a way deliberately constructed to favor a small group. I agree that Parity was merely an application on top of ETH, but it was widely used and indicates that users can innocently get snagged by something like that. >If I make a vulnerable website it's not nginx/Django/Postgres's fault. If nginx/Django/postgres/PHP have defaults and syntax that make it extremely easy to open up vulnerabilities, then yes, that is a strike against them, and a valid reason to build on a less flaky platform or wait for them to iron that out. >The reason Ethereum hasn't taken over the dominant position yet probably has more to do with Bitcoin's superior brand penetration. Or they're people like me, who were excited, then saw the nasty warning signs.

arca_vorago 9y ago

I would argue Monero is the first stop before the coins figure out a more environmentally friendly method, because the killer feature of a currency is anonymity. I don't know much about ethereum though, does it offer anonymity functions of some sort?

cantrip 9y ago
Both environmental friendlyness and anonymity are on the roadmap.

juanmirocks 9y ago

Less not forget the competitors to Ethereum too, such as EOS or Cardano. These should provide better scalability.

cantrip 9y ago
As soon as I can experiment with programming an EOS or Cardano smart contract I'll be happy to comment on their viability, but as far as I can figure out you can't, or at least no one is doing it. Ethereum has a working smart contract on the foundation website, as well as an online compiler to test with.
- juanmirocks 9y ago
  No doubt about. Either way, the newcomers are bringing new ideas that can also make Ethereum improve.
- andrethegiant 9y ago
  The EOS testnet launched last week. You can play with it using eos.js: https://github.com/eosio/eosjs https://github.com/eosio/eosjs EOS looks like the most developer-friendly crypto I've seen. If you can write in a language that can compile to WebAssembly, then you can create a DApp on EOS.
binocarlos 9y ago
There is a bunch of work happening with Ethereum to address the scalability problem, namely Proof of Stake and Sharding as well as complimentary systems like Raiden that use the main blockchain for dispute resolution and not every payment. I expect 2018 to be a busy year for Ethereum development!
- juanmirocks 9y ago
  Indeed. Same here. Either way competition will only make the cryptoassets and tools better.

grubles 9y ago

Anything Ethereum does can be done as a Bitcoin sidechain.

igorgue 9y ago
Sure, it can even with the same Smart Contract as Ethereum using Counterparty. It's just not done like that, or show me Bitcoin's Crowdfunding calendar, let me show you the hundreds there are for Ethereum... Not to mention, both are doomed with very high fees. I own both, but there are many improvements to go :)

SilasX 9y ago

Yes, in theory Ethereum is the better way. I was a strong believer in the "flippening" and exited some of my BTC position based on that belief. But ... it may be a long time before that theoretical superiority translates to practical. Ethereum has been plagued by a hard fork and semi-regular thefts that exploit hard-to-write contracts, plus the Parity bug: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/11/with-deletion-of-one-wallet-280-m-in-ethereum-wallets-gets-frozen/ https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/11/with-... None of this inspires confidence. Only after ETH can go for a while without these nightmares can it regain its well-deserved spot in the lead. (And imho that would involve a migration to a less error-prone language.) The closest Bitcoin had was the database code in a client implementation that had to be fixed (and had major consensus).

amckenna 9y ago
Those aren't equivalent comparisons. The issues with Ethereum have all been with regards to implementations of applications on top of the ETH layer - parity bug and DAO hack being the two biggest. Neither was due to mistakes in the underlying Ethereum protocol, both had to do with something that someone made using Ethereum. If I make a vulnerable website it's not nginx/Django/Postgres's fault. The reason Ethereum hasn't taken over the dominant position yet probably has more to do with Bitcoin's superior brand penetration. Most Bitcoin holders that I know personally have very little actual understanding of how any of the crypto currencies work under the hood, so they follow the general sentiment of the community/press and do not invest based on technical merits.
- SilasX 9y ago
  The DAO hack itself wasn't the problem (in this context) -- the problem was having to deal with a network that does hard forks at a whim in a way deliberately constructed to favor a small group. I agree that Parity was merely an application on top of ETH, but it was widely used and indicates that users can innocently get snagged by something like that. >If I make a vulnerable website it's not nginx/Django/Postgres's fault. If nginx/Django/postgres/PHP have defaults and syntax that make it extremely easy to open up vulnerabilities, then yes, that is a strike against them, and a valid reason to build on a less flaky platform or wait for them to iron that out. >The reason Ethereum hasn't taken over the dominant position yet probably has more to do with Bitcoin's superior brand penetration. Or they're people like me, who were excited, then saw the nasty warning signs.