Ethereum has had a remarkable year thanks to the DeFi explosion. Not since the ICO boom has the crypto asset seen this much demand, development, and network activity. And despite the recent plunge in Ethereum price, addresses have only grown, reaching a new all-time high and growing over 25% in 2020 alone.
Here’s why Ethereum has experienced such unstoppable growth, and why it is likely sustainable for the long-term, unlike the fallout from the initial coin offering fundraising phase.
Ethereum Takes 2020 By Storm, Tops Crypto Market In YTD Returns
The second-ranked cryptocurrency had this year saw development activity soar, and along with it, the asset’s prices. Negative sentiment in 2019 kept Ethereum and other alts from reaching the same highs Bitcoin did.
But this year, its been the other way around. Altcoins have easily outperformed Bitcoin. In 2020 alone, Bitcoin was up over 60% making it among the most successful mainstream investments. However, elsewhere in the crypto market altcoins like Ethereum beat out Bitcoin by a wide margin.
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From low to high in 2020, Ethereum had peaked at as much as 275% ROI on the year. The leading cryptocurrency by market cap came nowhere close with less than four times that return.
Ethereum’s price could be in for a much longer, extended rally also. A fractal matching early Bitcoin shows demand for the asset rising and an important flip in support and resistance taking place. After that, the top crypto asset reached $20,000 per token. And while Ethereum may not reach such highs, prices won’t be this low for much longer.
ETHUSD Daily 2020 Year-to-Date ROI | Source: TradingView
Is It Only DeFi Behind The Altcoin’s Unstoppable Growth?
There’s no need to deep dive into what’s driving Ethereum’s substantial growth. The year of 2020 in crypto has been all about decentralized finance and its impact on the future of the industry.
These tokens, are almost entirely built on Ethereum as ERC-20 tokens and utilize the platform’s smart contracts to provide holders with certain benefits. Crypto lending, yield farming, and other creative ways to make cash quick have emerged.
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At the center of it all, is Ethereum. Development on the platform has exploded, and hundreds of new users have been onboarded as a result. This has led to a 25% increase in addresses since the start of 2020, suggesting that the underlying network itself is extremely healthy.
The total of new ETH addresses has reached 12 million this year alone, bringing the total to over 46 million and a new all-time high. Interestingly, over 31 million of these addresses are sitting in profit.
The DeFi trend may have caused ETH gas fees to rise to ridiculous pricing, but it shows that demand is high for the cryptocurrency. The asset has been referred to as the “hottest night club in town” that everyone wants to get in. And by the growth of these addresses, more and more people are lining up