Bitcoin has been finding an unusual amount of stability around $9,100. The crypto has been trading around this level throughout the past several days and weeks, struggling to gain any decisive momentum.

The cryptocurrencys consolidation phase has been narrowing throughout the past few months, as it was previously trading between $9,000 and $10,000.

Its current range is much smaller than this, existing between roughly $9,000 and $9,300.

Each attempt to break above or below these boundaries has been fleeting.

Analysts are now noting that the crypto will likely put a violent end to this trend in the near-term.

This comes as Bitcoins True Range Percentage hits the lowest levels seen in its entire history.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading down marginally at its current price of $9,130. This is around the level at which it has been trading throughout the past few days.

Buyers and sellers have both attempted to invalidate the tight trading range that has been formed between $9,000 and $9,300, but each movement above or below these boundaries has been fleeting.

This has resulted in the benchmark cryptocurrency seeing one of its tightest True Ranges in its history.

Mohit Sorout, a founding partner at Bitazu Capital, spoke about this occurrence in a recent tweet, referencing a chart showing the unprecedented nature of Bitcoins current consolidation phase.

This month is turning out to be one with the lowest True Range in BTCs entire decade-long price history, he explained.

This sideways trading may be akin to a spring coiling up the longer it coils, the bigger the subsequent move will be.

One analyst is now noting that he is expecting Bitcoins current trading range to resolve with the crypto making a massive movement.

BTC: Historical lack of volatility continues. We dont get this tight w/o a big move as a result. Enjoy the inevitable ride, he said while pointing to the chart seen below.

There is a strong likelihood that Bitcoins reaction to its macro trading ranges boundaries at $9,000 and $10,000 will ultimately be what provides traders and investors with guidance into which direction it will trend next.

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This Indicator Signals Bitcoin's Boring Price Action Will Come to a Violent End - Bitcoinist

San Francisco-based Cloudflare, a web-infrastructure and website-security firm, offering content-delivery-network services, DDoS mitigation, Internet security, and distributed DNS services, experienced downtime again on July 17, 2020.

Whenever Cloudflare goes down or has some other type of technical difficulties, it immediately affects millions of websites that use its software. The recent downtime also resulted in a considerable decline in the number of Bitcoin (BTC) transactions that could be confirmed.

Jameson Lopp, the CTO at CasaHODL, a Bitcoin security firm, noted via Twitter (on July 17, 2020):

The Cloudflare DNS [Domain Name System] outage can be seen reflected in the rate of Bitcoin transactions broadcast, presumably because popular web wallets became inaccessible.

Lopp shared a chart that confirmed that there was a significant decline in the number of BTC transactions being processed every second.

Cloudflares management had noted on the providers official website (at around 10 p.m. UTC on July 17, 2020):

This afternoon we saw an outage across some parts of our network, [however] it was not as a result of an attack. It appears a router on our global backbone announced bad routes and caused some portions of the network to not be available. We believe we have addressed the root cause and are monitoring systems for stability now.

At around 10:57 p.m. UTC, a final update confirmed that the issue had been resolved.

While the Bitcoin (BTC) blockchain network itself did not experience an outage when Cloudflare went down, many traders or investors may not have been able to conduct transactions because crypto wallets and exchanges use Cloudflare (which is a centralized solution).

Centralized exchanges such as Binance, Coinbase, and just about all others have to regularly go offline to perform scheduled or unscheduled maintenance work. One of the main value propositions of cryptocurrencies are that theyre decentralized, meaning theres no central authority that can step in to shut down a platform or system.

However, these types of events indicate that cryptocurrencies are not truly decentralized because they still depend on centralized infrastructure (like Cloudflare). Nearly all the so-called blockchain or crypto projects also use Github to upload their projects source code.

Github has a centralized management which has, on many occasions, restricted or denied access to users in certain parts of the world, like Iran. During an interview with Crowdfund Insider, Ray Youssef, the CEO at P2P Bitcoin marketplace Paxful, clarified that the platform was peer to peer but not decentralized. Thats because Paxful needs to follow strict KYC/AML guidelines, which are required by regulatory authorities across the globe.

It is highly unlikely that cryptos main value proposition, which promises decentralization, will ever become a reality. Many so-called decentralized platforms like IOTA, bZX, and dForce (among many others) have been launched so that users can participate in permissionless markets or platforms, however, many of them were hacked and their creators had to step in to address the issue. This means theyre not truly decentralized.

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Bitcoin and Other Blockchain Networks May Not be Decentralized as Recent Cloudflare Outage led to Lower BTC Transaction Confirmations - Crowdfund...

Bitcoin (BTC/USD) price is trading sideways for most of the month of July as the volume figure keeps falling. In the meantime, the payment giant Visa is supporting the emerging Bitcoin payments startup.

Zap, a Bitcoin payments startup company that has recently announced its partnership with Visa, has discreetly secured $3.5 million in new investments, according to Forbes. The startup joined Visas Fast Track Program in June.

While Zap is not the first Bitcoin payments company in the world, its different from its rivals because it utilizes a new platform developed on top of Bitcoin, known as the Lightning Network, that takes seconds to confirm a settlement instead of the usual 10 minutes.

Apart from being very fast, the platform also has much lower Bitcoin transaction fees compared to traditional payment fees.

One of the early use cases for us is content creators. Journalists or video game streamers or adult film actors and actresses, put up profiles backed by our infrastructure, and anyone in the world can tip them, says Jack Mallers, founder of Zap.

Mallers thinks hell gain an advantage over other crypto startups, like Coinbase, by moving the transactions off-chain and cutting the fees included in smaller transactions.

Our users today, dont ever know were using bitcoin when theyre using dollars. Its just kind of like weve melted it in the background, he said. I think tens of millions of people will be using this stuff in the next few years, and that just takes a little bit of capital.

Zaps partnership with Visa was announced last month, and the startup said it will be rolling out its card within a year. Just like how the Visa Network controls traditional banks, providing them with instant payment services, the Lightning Network handles Bitcoin payments but has no gatekeeper.

Were contractually obligated to launch one in the next 12 months and we plan on launching one in the next few months, Mallers said.

The paperwork is fully inked, and its coming out.

BTC/USD has been moving sideways in the past two weeks. The price action looks very depressed as it left the symmetrical triangle, however, without a follow-up. Shrinking volume confirms a decrease in interest in trading Bitcoin in the past two weeks.

However, a low volume usually takes place before the explosive move takes place. Hence, we cant expect the depressing price action to continue for much longer as the buyers still aim to push price movements above the $10,000 mark.

Bitcoin price has continued to range in the past two weeks. The volume has also shrank, which may point to a potentially explosive move soon as the trading range gets more narrow.

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Shrinking volume may lead to an imminent breakout in Bitcoin price - Invezz

In July 2017, John McAfee said he would eat his own dick if Bitcoin does not hit $500,000 within three years. Today, BTC is hovering at a mere $9,130 and its price must increase by more than 5,376% to meet McAfees prediction.

John McAfee tweets he would eat his dick if Bitcoin doesnt hit $500k. Source: John McAfee Twitter

In general, Bitcoin quite clearly got nowhere near $500,000 in the past three years. Not only that, but McAfee is also seemingly backtracking from his $1 million per BTC prediction.

Last year, McAfee said he is positive Bitcoin goes to $1 million. He said negativity around the cryptocurrency market was overblown, especially considering Bitcoin was in the mid-$10,000s.

But on July 19, 2020, McAfee said:

Not going to get out of it. I never believed Bitcoin would hit $1 mil. It's absurd. Its an old, tired, worthless coin. I just wanted to eat my dick on TV. Wait for it.

Since mid-2019, the price of Bitcoin dropped from around $13,900 to $9,100. Following the 34% drop in a 12-month period, McAfee no longer feels confident about his $1 million BTC prediction.

In July 2019, McAfee said:

Bitcoin is at the mid 10's and people worry. LMFAO!! Why do you pay attention to weekly fluctuations? Look at the past few months FFS! It's rising drastically. I'm still positive about my $1 mil BTC price by the end of 2020. Alt coins like MTC and Apollo will rise ten times more.

Contrary to expectations, it also seems McAfee was referring to the end of 2020 as the prediction date for $500,000 per Bitcoin.

When several cryptocurrency enthusiasts questioned him about the subject, McAfee cited a website called dickening.com. The website says McAfee promised to eat his own dick if BTC does not hit $1 million by December 31, 2020.

McAfee said that it is well documented his bet was for Dec. 31 of this year, not July 2020. When asked about the bet, he reaffirmed that he would follow through with his bet if BTC does not hit $500,000.

He said:

It's well documented that I will eat my dick on Dec 31st 2020, not in July of this year. Google the bet. The In three years was a reference to that date. The originator of this tweet did not research it. Will I eat it? You bet! Myself, or, perhaps, a subcontractor:)

Max Keiser, the host of The Keiser Report and Bitcoin investor, sarcastically said McAfee must now be recovering at the hospital after honoring the bet.

John McAfee honored his bet, made three years ago, to bite off his dick if Bitcoin wasnt at $500,000 GOOD NEWS: Hes doing well at the hospital and expected to make a full recovery, Keiser said.

Of course, McAfees track record shows that his predictions should be taken with a grain of salt. For instance, his facetious U.S. Presidential campaign now appears to be inactive. Then in May 2020, McAfee questioned his own price prediction, leaving many confused.

Nevertheless, for McAfee to win the bet, BTC price would now have to gain at least 10,000% over the next five months.

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Worthless Coin McAfee Says He Never Believed Bitcoin Would Hit $1M - Cointelegraph

The concept of bitcoin days destroyed (BDD) was introduced in 2011, two years after the creation of the worlds first cryptocurrency,bitcoin. People were already beginning to create blockchain metrics to measure on-chain transaction activity and value.

Once the first cryptocurrency metric was created, BDD was quickly followed by a plethora of other unique metrics including unspent transaction output (UTXO), market value to realized value (MVRV) and spent output profit ratio (SOPR). Despite the sophistication of cryptocurrency data and analysis since 2011, BDD remains a fundamental metric to understanding and valuing bitcoin.

[BDD] is a metric that reflects the collective action of long-term [BTC] holders, said CoinDesk senior research analyst Galen Moore on a special podcast episode about the metric. Whats the psychology of the long-term holder? You can see that in a collective way [through BDD] in a way I dont think is possible in other asset categories.

Moore interviewed Coin Metrics Lucas Nuzzi on July 7, to learn more about BDDs use cases and limitations. In a follow-up discussion July 9, Moore noted no other financial asset enables traders and investors to see the activity of long-term asset holders as transparently as bitcoin.

To this, CoinDesk research intern Duy Nguyen noted the motivations behind why long-term holders are moving funds at any given time is still largely a guessing game that requires further off-chain analysis beyond the scope of BDD.

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The Origins of the World's Oldest Bitcoin Metric, Explained - CoinDesk - CoinDesk

As reports hit the United Kingdom in mid-June warning that inflation rates had fallen to a four-year low, high-profile fund managers were conversely worrying that the COVID-19 stimulus from governments and central banks would ultimately drive up prices.

In a recent market outlook note, famed hedge fund investor Paul Tudor Jones warned that:

We are witnessing the great monetary inflation an unprecedented expansion of every form of money unlike anything the developed world has ever seen. High debt accommodated by money printing is difficult to banish. Inflation expectations could one day respond to this reality.

Crispin Odey, the London-based founder of Odey Asset Management, also agrees inflation is ultimately unavoidable given the level of stimulus. In the short term, the money will be made on the inflation bet, Odey wrote in a recent letter. With potential inflation seemingly on the horizon, investors are looking out for the next big hedge in order to protect assets during the nascent economic crisis.

Jones, for one, has decided a way forward is to invest his fund, Tudor Investment Corporation, into Bitcoin (BTC). If I am forced to forecast, my bet is it will be Bitcoin, commented Jones in the same letter to investors. Bitcoin reminds me of gold when I first got into the business in 1976.

After the United States Federal Reserve indicated on June 10 that interest rates will remain near 0% until 2022, Bitcoin saw a short-lived run past $10,000, gaining 1.6% over 24 hours before dropping back.

Institutional investment managers have been increasingly interested in all things crypto over the past couple of years, and their interest keeps rising. A recent Fidelity report shows that in a survey of almost 800 institutional investors across the U.S. and Europe, 45% of firms in Europe say they hold crypto assets. Fidelity goes on to report:

The survey revealed higher penetration with crypto hedge and venture funds, as expected, but also the financial advisor, high net worth individual and family office segments.

Consumers are also showing increased signs of interest, with the U.K.s Financial Conduct Authority reporting that an estimated 2.6 million people have bought crypto assets at some point, nearly double the number reported last year.

Investors across the board can take advantage of these same trends and realize the benefits of hedging against inflation via Bitcoin. But accessing crypto markets can be extremely convoluted at times, with crypto exchanges charging users hefty fees for the privilege. Yet over the past couple of years, there has been somewhat of a maturing of crypto markets. Now, more consumer-friendly, easy-to-use platforms have been set up, providing immediate and safe access to best-price crypto. Users of these platforms can benefit by instantaneously and effortlessly exchanging their money into digital currencies at competitive prices and monitoring their balances in real time.

Through these unprecedented times as economies around the world adjust to dealing with a pandemic, investors across the globe are having to readjust their positions. Using Bitcoin to hedge against potential inflation is not solely in the realm of the Joneses and Odeys of this world, however. New technology platforms are making it much easier for U.K residents to similarly safeguard their assets by combining currencies into one account, helping to make cryptocurrencies more readily available.

The best profit-maximizing strategy is to own the fastest horse, Jones said in his Great Monetary Inflation note. He clearly believes that Bitcoin is the one to back.

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

Mark Hipperson is the founder and CEO of Ziglu, a cryptocurrency trading platform. Previously, he co-founded Starling Bank, where he was responsible for helping to secure the U.K. banking license with regulators and obtaining the initial $70 million funding. He was also responsible for the design, build, implementation and support of the banks IT services platform, apps and infrastructure. Mark started his career at Barclays where he was deputy chief technology officer and head of technology for the Barclays Group.

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Bitcoin Could Be the Next Big Inflation Hedge - Cointelegraph

The non-fungible token (NFT) and blockchain-backed collectible economy continue to see demand and the digital art market Makerplace has seen enormous growth recently. A number of well known artists have started to participate, as work from the acclaimed comic book illustrator Jose Delbo and 4K video art from Terry Flaxton will be sold on the premier market for rare digital art.

Just recently news.Bitcoin.com reported on the growing blockchain-backed metaverse and the non-fungible token (NFT) evolution. In the report, it was discussed how the sales of blockchain-powered non-fungible token sales crossed the $100 million mark.

Not only is there more than 18,500 wallets on Opensea, the largest NFT marketplace, but another marketplace dubbed Makerplace is seeing a lot of attention from buyers and popular artists. Makerplace is essentially a market for blockchain-backed digital art collections. The website states:

Every digital creation available through Makersplace is an authentic and truly unique digital creation, signed and issued by the creator made possible by blockchain technology. Even if the digital creation is copied, it wont be the authentic and originally signed version.

One specific artist who will host artwork for sale on Makerplace is the British artist Terry Flaxton who is well known for his analog video content, photography, film, and sound composition work. Flaxton has held over 200 exhibitions globally and he will be selling a 4K video project called Under Every Desert a Sea.

Currently, there is a pending offer for one out of the ten Flaxton-created 4K videos being sold for 2.2 ETH ($512). Flaxtons video on Makerplace is also linked through Opensea and the listings description says:

Under every Desert a Sea began its life with images of the Mojave desert that are now so abstracted they appear to be water.

Another well known artist who will be featured on Makersplace web portal will be the comic book illustrator who worked on the DC Comic Wonder Woman series from 1976 to 1981. The comic book artist Jose Delbo also worked on the Thundercats, Transformers, and Brute Force comics in the eighties and nineties for Marvel.

On July 23, 2020, Delbo will be selling a digital Superman drawing and a digital comic book as well. Reports note that Delbo will be answering questions about his digital work during an exhibition hosted in Decentraland.

The art scene worldwide is steadily transforming into an online art industry, and digital art sales are growing every year. At the current growth rate, blockchain and NFT markets like Makerplace and Opensea may someday outshine popular digital art venues like Redbubble, Artfinder, Artplode, Ugallery, and Saatchi Art.

In contrast to the traditional digital art marketplaces that have transpired during the last few years, markets like Opensea and Makerplace sell blockchain-based and NFT art with immutability.

Sales on both markets can be seen in real-time every day and people are spending their precious cryptocurrencies on digital art. For instance, a few pieces of digital art that recently sold on Makerplace include works like Vandalism ($333), Rudbeckia ($153), and a form of pixelated art called Pxlpet Not a Virus ($617).

What do you think about digital art being sold on Opensea and Makerplace? Let us know in the comments section below.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, Art by Jose Delbo, Makerplace, Terry Flaxton, Opensea,

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

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'Wonder Woman' Illustrator and British Artist Terry Flaxton to Sell Ethereum-Backed Art - Bitcoin News

During the first week of July, crypto supporters noticed that Tether issued 1,010 stablecoins via the Simple Ledger Protocol (SLP) framework on Bitcoin Cash. Now theres a much larger amount of SLP-based tethers in circulation as the company has minted a total of 6 million on the Bitcoin Cash blockchain.

Digital currency enthusiasts have been watching the Tether project grow for years now and to-date the firm has $9.8 billion in total liabilities according to the companys transparency page. The USDT stablecoin is spread across various blockchains including Ethereum, Tron, Algorand, and EOS. Just recently, USDT was migrated onto the Bitcoin Cash blockchain by leveraging the Simple Ledger Protocol.

Bitcoin Cash supporters are now aware that there are over 6 million SLP-based USDT in circulation today. Data stemming from simpleledger.info and a BCH blockchain explorer shows that SLP-based tethers are circulating quite frequently. A number of BCH supporters have been discussing the benefits of SLP-based stablecoins and the Cointext CTO, Vin Armani, discussed the subject on July 11.

Armani tweeted a link from news.Bitcoin.com, which reported on millions of dollars worth of USDT stablecoins frozen in 40 addresses. You cant stop me from using a Bitcoin address for which I have the key(s). Theres no freeze address function on Bitcoin, as has been added to these Ethereum stablecoin contracts, Armani said. The Cointext founder further stated:

USDT is now available as *uncensorable* SLP tokens on BCH.

In addition to the permissionless benefits the Bitcoin Cash chain offers, the network fees needed to interact with SLP-based USDT on the BCH chain is quite minimal. A typical fee on the BCH network is only $0.003 per transaction or a third of a U.S. penny. Just recently, members of the Reddit forum r/cryptocurrency discussed how interacting with ERC20s on the Ethereum chain was quite costly. The author of the original post shared a gas fee which was $16 and said and you guys were complaining about high BTC fees WTF!? One commenter responding to the post wrote:

Sending transactions on ETH is still cheap. Interacting with smart contracts is another story

Another concept that stems from the mind of Vin Armani could essentially do away with the already inexpensive gas fees needed to push SLP-based transactions. For instance, the crypto community could leverage the Simple Ledger Postage Protocol Armani invoked in November 2019. The Postage Protocol allows SLP-based tokens to be sent without using fees (generally known as gas) to complete transactions.

In essence, the Postage Protocol allows users to pay for their miner fees using the SLP token itself, Armani explained last year. This is accomplished through the use of an intermediary server called a post office. The user sends the post office the requisite value of the needed BCH as an additional output in a transaction. Upon receiving and validating the otherwise invalid transaction, the post office attaches additional input containing native BCH (stamps) and then broadcasts the postage paid (valid) transaction to the network.

The fact of the matter is, stablecoins and any types of tokens like non-fungible assets are much cheaper to send via the Bitcoin Cash chain. Many BCH supporters believe that in time, the market will realize this fact and migrate and build token infrastructure using the Simple Ledger Protocol. Besides being cheaper, SLP-based tokens are also permissionless and anyone from anywhere around the world can have full control over their tokens if they possess the private key(s).

What do you think about the $6 million worth of tether on the Bitcoin Cash chain? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

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$6M Worth of Tether on the Bitcoin Cash Chain Highlights the Benefits of SLP Tokens | Technology Bitcoin News - Bitcoin News

Coinbase is selling its blockchain analytics software to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Secret Service. Following criticisms from the crypto community, CEO Brian Armstrong defended Coinbases position.

Public records on the U.S. governments websites reveal that the San Francisco-based crypto exchange Coinbase has signed a contract with the U.S. government for its blockchain analytics software. The records were first spotted by The Block.

The contract, awarded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), was signed on May 9. It went into effect the next day with a tentative end date of May 11, 2024. The obligated amount is currently $49,000 and the potential award amount is $183,750. The contracting agency is the U.S. Secret Service, a federal agency that investigates monetary crimes such as fraud and counterfeiting; it was transferred from the Department of the Treasury to the Department of Homeland Security on March 1, 2003.

Following the news of Coinbase selling its analytics software to the U.S. Secret Service, many people took to Twitter to criticize the companys action, with some urging others to delete Coinbase, saying that the company is bad for bitcoin and crypto.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong quickly defended his companys decision. Blockchain analytics software is nothing new has been around a long time it uses publicly available data to try and track crypto transactions usually to catch bad actors, he tweeted.

Armstrong proceeded to explain that his company started off by using some of the existing blockchain analytics services out there. This worked out ok, but the issue with it was that we dont like sharing data with third parties when we can avoid it, and they didnt support all the features/chains we needed. So we realized at some point we would need to bring this capability in house, the CEO described, elaborating:

Its expensive to build this capability, and we want to recoup costs. There is an existing market for blockchain analytics software, so we sell it to a handful of folks as well. It also helps us build relationships with law enforcement which is important to growing crypto.

Last month, it was reported that Coinbase wanted to sell its analytics software to two other U.S. government agencies: the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Meanwhile, the company is reportedly planning an initial public offering (IPO) in the U.S.

What do you think about Coinbase selling its analytics software to the government? Let us know in the comments section below.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, U.S. government

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

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US Dept of Homeland Security Buys Analytics Software From Coinbase | News - Bitcoin News

Interest in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, including ethereum, is boomingfueled by unprecedented central bank stimulus measures and rocketing demand for alternative finance.

The bitcoin price, up around 30% so far this year, is being left in the dust by huge gains seen by some smaller cryptocurrencies.

Ethereum, the second most valuable cryptocurrency after bitcoin, has almost doubled in value so far this yearand the number of active ethereum addresses is growing at nearly twice the rate of bitcoins.

Bitcoin remains the world's most valuable cryptocurrency by a wide margin, though a recent rally in ... [+] the price of some smaller cryptocurrencies has left bitcoin in the dust.

Ethereums active address count has increased by 118% since the beginning of the year, data from blockchain analytics firm Messari, first reported by crypto news site Decrypt, has shown.

Meanwhile, bitcoins active address count has increased by just 49%.

"The level of development on ethereum is crazy: initial coin offerings, stablecoins, non-fungible tokens, decentralized exchanges and other decentralized finance applications, Web 3 use cases," Messari chief executive Ryan Selkis said via email, though he added bitcoin remains "the industry's dominant asset and most important project."

The ethereum price has also surged this year, with ethereum's tradable token ether now trading at around $240up almost 90% from $130 at the start of January. Bitcoin, on the other hand, has seen its post-coronavirus crash rally halted in its tracks since May with bitcoin repeatedly trying and failing to break the psychological $10,000 per bitcoin level.

Despite the excitement swirling around ethereum, recent setbacks, including a warning that ethereum 2.0 may be delayed again, is leaving the door open for competitors.

"There's a lot of demand for smart contract platforms that scale, so there's a big opening in the market right now with ethereum 2.0 delayed, [processing] prices high, and well-funded competitors launching imminently," Selkis said.

The ethereum price has ticked up over the last 12 months with ethereum outpacing bitcoin's recent ... [+] rally by a considerable margin.

One such cryptocurrency, chainlink, has been boosted by a surge of interest in decentralized finance, sometimes known as DeFithe idea that blockchain entrepreneurs can use bitcoin and crypto technology to recreate traditional financial instruments such as loans and insurance.

The chainlink price is up by around 1,000% on the last year, hitting fresh all-time highs over the last few days.

However, some cryptocurrency and ethereum developers have cautioned against investors viewing blockchains and cryptocurrency tokens as in competition.

"Viewing other blockchains as competitors to ethereum isnt the right framework to view the crypto space," Kosala Hemachandra, founder and chief executive of MyEtherWallet, who's been developing on ethereum since its 2015 launch, said via email, adding delays to ethereum 2.0 "arent stopping or slowing the many projects building on ethereum."

DeFi has been found to be one of the biggest drivers of ethereum growth in recent months, with DeFi applications accounting for over 97% of all decentralized app volume on ethereum according to a July report from Dapp.com.

"Different blockchains have separate goals and purposes," Hemachandra said.

"Some are primarily focused on value transactions while others support decentralized app development, for example. You have to look beyond market cap to really evaluate blockchain development."

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Ethereum Is Beating Bitcoin In More Ways Than One - Forbes