Do 'Ethereum killers' have a future? Here's what the crypto community says

Published at: March 1, 2023

Repeated outages of one of the most popular blockchains believed to have the potential to dethrone the Ethereum network sparked a conversation among community members about the future of those carrying the burden of being called an “Ethereum killer.”

A member of the cryptocurrency forum on Reddit opened a conversation on Ethereum killers and questioned their ability to succeed in the current crypto space. According to the community member, those dubbed as Ethereum killers are not likely to succeed because they do not get the same adoption that Ethereum does.

In addition, the community member argued that even if a chain becomes faster than Ethereum, the market capitalization of Ether (ETH) is very high. Therefore, the crypto user believes that “no ETH killer will actually kill ETH.”

Various members of the community chimed in and gave their thoughts on the issue. From pointing out that the so-called ETH killers did not deliver on promises to suggesting dropping the term “ETH killer” altogether, crypto community members discussed the future of ETH killers.

One community member argued that "there's no such thing as an Ethereum killer." The Reddit user believes that there's only ETH, and then there’s the rest of the layer-1 networks that fight for the remaining market share of the layer-1 market.

One Redditor argued that the term ETH killer should be dropped because at this point, "ETH has become entrenched." The community member believes that while ETH can still be dethroned, it cannot be killed. "At that stage, the whole market would have to be wiped out which is also a statistical unlikelihood,” they wrote.

While many of the arguments are pro-Ethereum some still believe that things can still go south for the network. A community member said that the idea that ETH “will never fail is ridiculous.” The Reddit user argued that ETH’s adoption doesn’t mean that it’s a done deal as many argued that the space is still in its early stages. They added:

"We are either early and it’s way too premature to call absolute certainties or it’s done and we are no longer early.”

As others contributed serious arguments to the discussion, some joined in to add a touch of humor to the somehow heated online debate. One community member posted “Ethereum is the true Ethereum killer killer” while another said, “What doesn't kill ETH makes ETH stronger.”

The discussion came a few days after Solana, one of the most recognized Ethereum killer blockchains, suffered another issue on its network. On Feb. 25, Solana faced a slowdown in block production, leading to a network restart. The incident led to various disruptions in user transactions. The issue also sparked outrage on Twitter, with some mocking the network and calling it a “transaction killer.”