What will happen to Efirium in 2025

ETH’s performance is really unimpressive in this bullrun. For example, the cryptocurrency has only given away 5.8 percent growth over the past year, as you can see in the chart below.

The change in the value of Etherium ETH over the past year

Sure, the coin has delivered good returns during this time, but the value has eventually returned to virtually the same place it was last February.


In comparison, Bitcoin has now appreciated 104 per cent over the year. Solana's performance is 87 per cent.


However, that didn’t stop Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake from talking about Bitcoin’s alleged disadvantages compared to ETH. According to him, Etherium will soon enough turn into “ultra-hard money”, while BTC is in a desperate situation due to its limited maximum supply of 21 million coins, which cannot decrease.


As a reminder, a hard currency is defined as a currency that is characterised by a stable exchange rate and purchasing power. Fans of Efirium began to position ETH as "superhard" after the EIP-1559 commission burning feature appeared in its network.

Thanks to it, during times of high load on the chain and rising commissions, the latter were actively burnt, which could make ETH a deflationary cryptocurrency at certain intervals. This means that fewer new ethers were issued than transaction fees were burned.


However, since April 2024, Etherium’s popularity among users has declined – including due to demand for Eth-based second-tier networks like Base and Arbitrum. As a result, the cryptocurrency’s supply has steadily increased since then, while the coin itself has been inflationary since 15 September 2022, when Ethereum switched to PoS.

Ether has been issuing and burning since September 2022

Drake isn’t deterred by this, however. He stated that it won’t be long before ether turns back into ultra-hard money, and Bitcoin allegedly has far bigger problems.

The Ethereum Foundation representative compared the pace of new ETH and BTC issuance since 13 March 2024, when the Dencun update took place on the Etherium network. He noted that since then, 657,000 bitcoins worth $63.4 billion and 469,000 ETH worth $1.23 billion have come into circulation. Here is an expert’s comment on the matter, as quoted by Cointelegraph.

Bitcoin’s total supply is growing at 0.83 per cent year-over-year. That’s 66 per cent faster than the ETH figure.

Drake noted that Bitcoin’s limited supply has the potential to create long-term security risks for the blockchain. Still, BTC miners’ revenue comes predominantly from the reward per block, which is now 3.125 coins. This amount provides about 99 per cent of the total revenue of ASIC holders.

Accordingly, when the block reward continues to fall during halving, miners will supposedly lose interest in maintaining the security of the network.


Such an option seems logical. However, experts suggest that when the reward per block drops to noticeably low levels, Bitcoin's exchange rate will be significantly higher. Accordingly, the dollar equivalent of miners' remuneration may not be lower, which will maintain their interest.


Ethereum Foundation spokesperson Justin Drake

Again, Justin Drake did not consider this point. He says the Bitcoin network will be at risk because of the “relatively low cost of attack” on the blockchain. Here’s his rejoinder on the matter.

Bitcoin’s blockchain is hit. It takes about $10 billion and access to 10 gigawatts of power to launch a sustained 51 per cent attack on the network. For the States, that’s pennies on the dollar.

The opinion was supported by Etherium fan Anthony Sassano on Twitter. He said the following.

It’s crazy that Bitcoin fans still don’t see the impending disaster. Or they do see it, but prefer to hide their heads in the sand. Admittedly, they are very good at it.

And although such remarks can be perceived as mocking or even trolling, ETH enthusiasts were clearly serious.

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Efirium’s problems today

The attacks on Bitcoin were commented on by analyst James Cheek. According to him, critics of the reliability of the BTC network do not take into account other parameters like advances in energy, mining efficiency and economic incentives for ASIC owners.

ASIC miner for Bitcoin mining

According to the expert, if Bitcoin becomes a reserve asset for the United States and other countries, the fees in this network will increase noticeably. This will resemble the fees of institutions for the safe storage of gold, which means that in the case of BTC, miners will also get a reason to continue their own work. Here’s the line.

Also overlooked is the cost of ASIC miners, on which profitability depends. Bankrupt miners sell the equipment at undervalued prices, allowing new entrants to continue mining and keep the network secure.

Over time, commissions will cover operating costs, while subsidies have already recouped capital costs.

Also in the future, miners’ costs will be reduced by advances in nuclear power. In addition, crypto mining itself is beneficial for governments, as miners stabilise power grids by reacting to current demand, which reduces maintenance costs for operators.

Cheek also voiced the following rejoinder.

This is an extremely complex topic, but arguments against Bitcoin’s sustainability fail to recognise the depth of the problem. It’s a challenge with many variables, and in the long run I’m pretty positive.

Justin Drake argues that it’s easy and cheap to plug in and run a power supply comparable to a small state. It’s even hard to express how unserious such a claim sounds.

Some Bitcoin enthusiasts decided to use a simpler argument. They advised Justin Drake to look at the ratio of the Etherium to Bitcoin exchange rate, which is now at its lowest in years. Which means BTC has been a more popular and profitable investment in recent years.

A weekly chart of the Etherium exchange rate against Bitcoin


Criticism of other cryptocurrencies from the representatives of the Etherium team sounds strange. Still, the position of ETH on this bullrun is frankly bad, which is obvious to all market participants. And attacks on other projects will not solve the problem here.
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