Ethereum (ETH) is widely regarded as the pioneer of the decentralized finance (DeFi) industry since it was the first cryptocurrency to develop support for decentralized applications (dApps).
As things stand, Ethereum continues to hold its own among the DeFi sector in terms of total value locked (TVL), with 57% of the total sector worth $31.14 billion. Tron (TRX) follows in second place at 10.39% and $5.59 billion meanwhile, BNB Smart Chain (BSC) ranks third at $5.38 billion with 10.01% of the total worth, according to data retrieved by Finbold from Defi Llama on October 12.
It’s also worth mentioning that Ethereum leads the number of protocols with 576 followed by BSC with 482, while third is Polygon (MATIC) with 319, interestingly, TRON ranks tenth out of the top 10 with ten protocols.
Ethereum is the ‘foundation of the internet’
Notably, leading economist at blockchain firm Consensys, David Shuttleworth, suggested that Ethereum (ETH) is now the ‘foundation of the internet,’ a factor validated by the recent Merge upgrade that transitioned the network to a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) protocol.
According to Shuttleworth, Ethereum can power more businesses, referencing the network’s ability to process more transactions than established platforms like Visa (NYSE: V).
“Ethereum just because of the security and the value locked into it is going to be a driver of people using it to do business,” Shuttleworth said.
Earlier this year Bloomberg’s senior commodities analyst Mike McGlone, suggested that the price of ETH will continue to go up as it is “becoming the internet’s collateral.”
“Demand is increasing, supply is declining and Ethereum’s position at the epicenter of the digitization of finance and money suggests further price appreciation. Ethereum — the denominator for NFTs and top platform for tokenization — is becoming the collateral of the internet.”
It’s worth mentioning that Finbold reported on October 11, the supply of Ethereum in circulation has dropped by nearly 4,000 ETH in two days. With a lower supply of a digital asset in circulation means that fewer of it is available as the asset starts to become deflationary.
Ethereum could kick-start ‘one of the biggest bull markets’ in history
If historical patterns from 2016-2017 are any indicator, Ethereum could be in for one of the largest bull markets in the history of the crypto industry, according to a tweet published by the pseudonymous crypto analyst Moustache.
Comparing the ETH price action from that period to the period between 2021 and 2022, the analyst noted in his technical analysis that the “pattern from ‘16-’17 repeats almost identically,” which, according to him, means that:
“Ethereum will soon start one of the biggest bull markets in the history of cryptocurrencies.”
Elsewhere, the Commonwealth of Dominica is launching the Dominica Coin (DMC) in partnership with the TRON Protocol after the nation passed the Virtual Asset Business Act in its Parliament earlier in 2022.
Meanwhile, the total number of transactions on the TRON blockchain has recently surpassed 4 billion after rumors started of its founder being the real buyer of crypto exchange Huobi.
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