As Ether Reaches New All-Time High Will, it takes over Bitcoin?

Ether hit an all-time new high on Thursday this week, reaching $2,800. While it is outperforming Bitcoin, Kevin O’Leary said in a CNBC video that Ether would always be No. 2 to Bitcoin. The Canadian businessperson compared the two digital tokens to gold and silver. He even said that Ether was quite the drummer that could not quite make the band for the Beatles.

The cryptocurrency secured by the Ethereum blockchain, Ether has once again seen an impressive increase in its value as it touches $2,800. It has slightly dipped now but it remains around the rounded figure of $2,800.

Kevin O’Leary’s recent comment on Ether being No. 2 to Bitcoin is something that has been around since before Ethereum even launched. There have been debates about whether another token or blockchain can take over where Bitcoin is. Historically the answer has been no, though there have been times where it has rather been close.

It is most popularly called flipping where the market cap of Ethereum overtakes that of Bitcoin. Ethereum was closest in 2017 where it became within few percentages of flippening Bitcoin. This was during a big scaling debate where Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash became a thing and since then we have seen Bitcoin dominance. Bitcoin dominance is the market cap of Bitcoin against all other alternative currencies out there.

The Bitcoin vs Ethereum is an interesting conversation that brings in two different ideas to play. On one side’s the Bitcoin which is based on this idea of libertarian sound money and decentralization, taking away that power from the state. Ethereum on the other side has aspects of decentralization but it is more focused on the utility of the platform itself. In addition, it has fewer guarantees of censorship resistance though very strong guarantees nonetheless. So two different systems and whether Ether would ever takeover Bitcoin is based on mere speculations.

The essence of O’Leary’s comment is that Ethereum is always going to be second to bitcoin. However, he is also saying Ether will always be No. 2 so there is a kind of play on O’Leary’s words. If the statement is taking alone then it gets one thinking will some other token not pass Ethereum. Initially, everyone called Litecoin the silver to Bitcoin’s gold and before Ethereum was launched, everyone was heard saying this would become the platinum. This shows that things in the crypto world rapidly change so Bitcoin’s position as No.1 or Ethereum’s as No.2 is not guaranteed.

JPMorgan on the other hand has published a report that explains how Ether outperforms Bitcoin. The firm notes that Bitcoin is more of a commodity while Ethereum is more accessible as a medium of exchange. While calling Ethereum the backbone of the crypto-native economy it concluded that token would outperform Bitcoin in the end.