Developing a balanced perspective on Ethereum (and I guess crypto in general) – trying to separate out greed, ideology, value, hype and FOMO

To be up-front, what got me interested in crypto was that a lot of "mainstream" podcasts that I listen to have been covering NFTs, Bitcoin. I have been vaguely aware of Bitcoin's peaks and valleys over the years, but I'll be up-front and admit that I basically dismissed it all.

What really made me re-think things was the CoinBase IPO and Bitcoin crossing the $1T mark in terms of market capitalization. For someone who is not quite a believer, these two events made me open my eyes and convinced me to give a good-faith effort to understand this these things better.

I understand posting on the Ethereum subreddit, I will get a certain range of viewpoints from die-hards to some who are well-balanced and whose Reddit posts I found very educational, but the general tilt is going to be pro-Ethereum. I’m okay with that, and the point of this thread is to hear more opinions on some topics I will bring up.

I am hoping to start a good-faith discussion on Ethereum. On my end, I will try to be transparent and honest about where I'm coming from, but also not dismissive. The truth is, I don't know what the next 10 years will look like, the Internet of 2005 looks drastically different from the Internet of 2015, I could not have predicted that.

TL;DR: I am doing all this background research to answer the following question: is it worth investing in Ethereum and holding for the next few years? I have absolutely zero interest in day-trading. I am trying to see if I believe in Ethereum enough to buy it, hold it, and just sit on my ass for a few years.

I see a lot of value in having a digital currency that is peer-to-peer. Our society is more and more a globalized society, and our culture is more and more an Internet culture. For the start, I see a lot of value in having a decentralized digital currency.

Currently the two big cryptocurrencies are Bitcoin and Ethereum. I am attracted to Ethereum because I like that it can be a more general platform than Bitcoin. I have not dived into the code, but my impression is that Bitcoin being first is a bit "clunkier" whereas Ethereum had the benefit of learning some lessons from Bitcoin's development and is a bit smoother. So I think here Ethereum has some real benefits over Bitcoin. I think there's some intrinsic value in Ethereum's code, its development team and leadership.

I think where I start to really get lost is when people say Ethereum is going to be a Web 3.0. I have tried to see the rationale here, and frankly I struggle to see it. I would like to be clear: I am not making a prediction that it won't or can't become Web 3.0. Me personally, I am skeptical, but I also don't think ETH needs to be Web 3.0 to be an effective cryptocurrency.

On the other hand, I do feel a FOMO. I don't believe cryptocurrency needs to become the dominant global currency to have a big impact on society. The idea is so radical, and the growth has been so tremendous, it feels risky not to at least learn more about this and invest in it. There's a real sense of being in on the ground floor of something.

From a raw greed (or maybe a concern about my future/retirement in an uncertain world) when I look at the numbers, if BTC is hovering around $50K USD, and ETH is around $2700 USD, it's not inconceivable that ETH has plenty of room to grow.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I have seen some very polarized opinions on fiat currencies here. Broadly I see crypto as a reaction to the subprime mortgage collapse. I understand the reservation and outright mistrust people can have, we are truly in strange economic times with quantitative easing, massive stimulus packages and orthodox economic theory not being able to explain the lack of inflation.

I think what started out as an ideological concept, a totally decentralized currency, has sort of morphed into a hybrid as it has become more and more mainstream.

I have to admit that I do not share in the ideology of decentralized currencies. I'm just not there and I might not ever get there. I see a lot of posters here who I would say are on the very far end of the spectrum and I am far more of a centrist in this regard.

I struggle to see a wide-spread adaptation of ETH as the global currency. I however think that ETH can be a good store of value. I do think that the wild swings in valuation, the taxation laws are huge barriers to crypto being a standardized currency. That's not to say that ETH won't have use as a currency, but I struggle to see the wide-spread adoption.

Whoever invented something may have had some design principles, use principles in mind, may have even hard-coded it, but once it gets released into the world, it will find its own place in the market. I sort of think we are seeing that with big institutions like JP Morgan and VISA getting involved in the crypto space. And as I am not an ideological die-hard, this bolsters my enthusiasm for ETH.

But paradoxically another reason I feel optimistic about ETH and cryptocurrencies in general is precisely that when I read these forums, there's still a lot of ideologically motivated people. Yes there are cynical greedy people as well, but it feels like there is a strong ideologically principled Internet sub-culture that is driving ETH, Bitcoin, crypto, and I believe this has a real value. At least it does to me.

I really do enjoy reading these forums, and overall, I am amazed at the progress of cryptocurrencies. I may not come from the exact perspective that many of you are coming from, but I appreciate your enthusiasm and principles.