It’s no secret that Ethereum has been struggling as of late. The once-mighty blockchain is now facing stiff competition from UPStarts like EOS and TRON, not to mention the looming threat of centralization from China.

This has led to a lot of speculation about whether or not Ethereum will be able to survive in the long term.

One of the biggest challenges Ethereum is currently facing is the high cost of transaction fees. Due to the increasing demand for ETH, transaction fees have skyrocketed in recent months, making it prohibitively expensive for many users.

This problem is only going to get worse in the future as more and more people begin using Ethereum. Thankfully, there is a solution on the horizon in the form of EIP 1559.

EIP 1559 is a proposed change to the Ethereum protocol that would dramatically reduce transaction fees by burning a portion of each ETH transaction. This would create a built-in mechanism to reduce demand when fees are high, making ETH more affordable for everyone.

The implementation of EIP 1559 is still up in the air, but if it does go through, it could be a game-changer for Ethereum. Not only would it make the platform more affordable to use, but it would also make it more attractive to developers and users alike.

This could lead to a resurgence in Ethereum’s popularity and help it regain its position as the top dog in the blockchain space.

Of course, there’s no guarantee that EIP 1559 will be implemented or that it will be successful even if it is implemented. However, it’s definitely something worth watching closely as it could have a major impact on Ethereum’s future.

Ethereum mining is the process of verifying and adding transactions to the Ethereum blockchain. It is also the process by which new Ethereum tokens are created.

Miners are rewarded for their work with Ether, which is the native cryptocurrency of Ethereum.

The Ethereum network is designed to be resistant to ASIC miners, which are specialized hardware used to mine cryptocurrencies. This means that Ethereum miners can not use ASICs to mine Ether, and must instead use GPUs or CPUs.

The Ethereum network is also designed to be scalable, so that as more users adopt it and more transactions are added, the network can still handle the increased load without slowing down.

However, there is a limit to how many Ether can be created; after a certain point, no more new tokens can be mined. This limit is called the “total supply” of Ether, and it is currently set at 18 million ETH.

Once all 18 million ETH have been mined, no more will be created and mining will cease to be profitable.

This does not mean that the Ethereum network will shut down; it will continue to function as normal, with users able to send and receive transactions as usual. However, there will no longer be an incentive for miners to verify these transactions, as they will no longer be rewarded with Ether.

It is unclear how long it will take for all 18 million ETH to be mined; estimates range from 2-4 years. Once this happens, Ethereum mining will no longer be possible or profitable, and the only way to obtain Ether will be through buying it on exchanges or receiving it as a payment for goods or services.

Ethereum has been one of the most successful cryptocurrencies in recent years, with a large and growing community of users and developers. However, like all good things, it must come to an end eventually.

Mining will cease to be profitable once all the Ether has been mined, but this does not mean that Ethereum will die; it will continue to function as a payment network and platform for decentralized applications even without mining rewards.

Ethereum, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency by market value, has been on a tear over the past month.

The price of ether, the native token of the Ethereum network, surged to an all-time high of $3,451.49 on January 10, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

The cryptocurrency has since pulled back slightly and was trading at $2,972.59 at press time.

The rally comes as Ethereum’s DeFi (decentralized finance) sector continues to grow at a rapid pace. The total value locked in Ethereum DeFi protocols has surged from $1 billion to $13 billion since June 2020, according to DeFi Pulse.

The surge in price and DeFi growth has led some industry observers to speculate that Ethereum is in the midst of a “flippening” event, whereby it overtakes Bitcoin as the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market value.

However, not everyone is convinced that Ethereum can sustain its current momentum. In fact, some analysts believe that the cryptocurrency is due for a major correction and could even crash back down to its 2018 lows.

Here’s a look at some of the factors that could cause Ethereum’s price to drop in the near future.

Excessive speculation

One of the biggest dangers facing any rally in asset prices is excessive speculation. And it looks like that may be happening in the case of Ethereum.

According to data from Santiment, a blockchain analytics firm, there has been a sharp increase in the number of new addresses created on the Ethereum network over the past few months. This is often taken as a sign that more people are buying ETH in anticipation of further price gains.

Similarly, data from Glassnode shows that the percentage of ETH held in so-called “whale” wallets (i.e., wallets holding more than 1,000 ETH) has reached an all-time high of 36%.

This suggests that a small group of investors are amassing large amounts of ETH and could potentially sell their holdings and trigger a sharp price decline.

High gas fees

Another potential problem for Ethereum is high gas fees. Gas fees are paid by users to miners in order to process transactions on the network.

And they have been rising sharply over the past few months as demand for space on the blockchain has increased.

According to data from Bitinfocharts, the average gas fee on Ethereum hit an all-time high of nearly $23 per transaction on January 13. This is becoming increasingly prohibitive for smaller investors and could lead to a exodus from the network.

Conclusion: Only time will tell if Ethereum will keep crashing or if it will continue to rise in value; however, there are certainly some potential problems that could cause its price to drop sharply in the near future.