Ethereum has long been the target of criticism from hard-line Bitcoin maximalists who believe that Bitcoin is the only worthwhile cryptocurrency, despite the fact that Ethereum holds the second highest percentage of the total cryptocurrency market value.
Now, another Bitcoin maximalist, Steve Barbour, has referred to the leading platform for smart contracts as garbage.
Bitcoin Maximalist Makes Controversial Claim About Ethereum
In a social media post on X, the prominent Bitcoin enthusiast recently called Ethereum “garbage” and said it has no future. His argument essentially boils down to Ethereum’s failure to attract free market investors and nothing else.
Ethereum is garbage. The free market doesn’t want it, and the market it has taken over still can’t figure out what it’s for.
— Steve Barbour (@SGBarbour) October 16, 2023
Barbour is the founder of Upstream Data, a mining infrastructure company that builds off-grid Bitcoin mining rigs. His claim comes on the heels of Ethereum’s staking rewards fall to new lows.
The number of Ethereum in staking pools has been steadily increasing in recent months. However, this was not accompanied by increased profitability. According to CoinGecko, liquid staking protocols accounted for 43.7% of the total 26.4 million ETH wagered in August 2023.
The annual percentage return (APY) from staking ETH has decreased over the years, from 18% in 2020 to 3% in October. As of 2022, these protocols have paid 100,000 ETH in quarterly staking incentives, but the low APY has led many investors to question whether staking ETH is still worth it.
Barbour and more Bitcoin maximalists claim that Ethereum is not as decentralized as Bitcoin, particularly since the blockchain has recently moved from a proof-of-work to a proof-of-stake consensus process.
Most of them believe that Bitcoin is the only “true” cryptocurrency and that all other cryptocurrencies are worthless. Bitcoin maximalists have also been critical of cryptocurrencies other than Ethereum. Max Kaiser, another strong proponent of Bitcoin, has recently claimed that XRP is concentrated.
ETH price remains firmly above $1,500 | Source: ETHUSD on Tradingview.com
Answers and Reactions
Ethereum has proven to be more than garbage, as evidenced by its huge number of supporters and large ecosystem. However, some Bitcoin supporters agreed with the maximalist.
Agreed. It is full of speculators
— Carnival_Poe (@Carnival_Poe) October 17, 2023
The free market has Ethereum now at $1,550. ETH has seen a price drop of 1.65% in the last 24 hours and continues to remain weaker against Bitcoin.
On the other hand, Bitcoin has grown in dominance over altcoins. Most of the money and attention has flowed into Bitcoin, and the crypto has gained 6.39% in the past seven days.
As a result, ETH bulls struggled to push above $1,600 and the crypto is now trading around the $1,550 support zone. If the bulls fail to hold this level, another one could begin down to $1,430.
Featured image from Forbes, chart from Tradingview.com
