Like most other new technologies, crypto is going through a hype-and-bust cycle, but greatly exaggerated because of the possibility of crazy ponzi-like speculat

Like most other new technologies, crypto is going through a hype-and-bust cycle, but greatly exaggerated because of the possibility of crazy ponzi-like speculation, and for people who know nothing about what it really is to get highly involved financially, seeming to make wild profits before the inevitable popping of the speculative bubble. Most new technologies don't have remotely the same degree of opportunities for utter craziness. BUT... that does not mean that the technology is fundamentally BS. It just means that it happens to be extraordinarily susceptible to the kinds of abuses we are seeing. This year, Ethereum will become Proof-of-Stake based, and "Layer 2" solutions will be emerging which greatly reduce transactions costs, and sharding will be emerging that will GREATLY reduce transaction costs. It's a real technology with a real future. And to transact with Eth you'll need to own Eth, providing non-ponzi motivation to buy, and it will be a deflationary currency (i.e. there will be less of it over time rather than more). IFF the tech is successful, its price may still go up by a LOT. I don't know that it will be successful, but I've been following its development closely and I think this is a very competent team making good decisions. I'm bullish on Ethereum long-term. Once it's converted to PoS, it will have by far the largest market cap of any PoS chain, and the security of a PoS chain is ultimately based on its market cap (and how decentralized it is, something the Ethereum world is very aware of). So, it should be the most secure PoS chain, as well as having at least as much high-quality technical development going on as any other when you include the Layer 2 teams. But it will take a few years for many of the practical potentialities to start to be manifested in the real world. It needs Layer 2 and sharding before it will happen. In between now and then, the price of Eth is anyone's guess. I don't think anything, in particular, should be read into any short-term price trends. Instead, the question should be whether the fundamental technology is moving forward toward its goals, and whether another technology emerges in the meantime that has the same potential benefits but somehow does them better.