After the introduction of Ethereum(ETH) to the crypto space, a lot of cryptocurrency enthusiasts have expressedtheir hopes that it would dethrone Bitcoin being the leading crypto asset bymarket capitalization.

On the other hand, many analystssuggest that it would be hard for ETH to reach that spot, especially that it ispoised to struggle this 2020.

Currently, Ethereum collapsed by 89%from its all-time high $1,419.6 while the rate of Bitcoin is gradually plungingover 50% from its historic high. The said price drop suggests that the twocryptos exposed the investors to the infamous crypto-mania back in 2017.However, ETH is expected to experience further negative market performances.

Absence of Ethereum 2.0 ‘Til 2020

According to some reports, theEthereum 2.0 will remain unavailable in the market until 2010. That’s becausethe Serenity rollout will require seven phases before completed.

Market Research Firm Messari saidthat Phase 1 is even not available until 2021, which will consist of 64 shardchains. The upgrade, as mentioned earlier, is considered to be the key to scaling.As for Phase 2, the full launch will include a huge dApp migration and an eWASMvirtual machine.

If you missed the news, Ethereum 2.0is a new blockchain that will deliver a high-risk transition. Then, it isexpected to offer a more stable financial system.

The Impact of Initial Coin Offering

It was 2017 when cryptocurrencybecame a hype, where scammers created their versions of the tokens and thensold through an initial coin offering (ICO) to unaccredited investors.

Unfortunately, ICOs large portionutilized ETH as the blockchain. So, the crypto turned de-factory currency, aswell as a number of companies, pulled massive capitals that were derived in BTCin exchange for the assets. It’s no surprise why the rates of ETH and BTCsurged exponentially.

According to crypto analysts, thepump of rates resulted in ETH to be overbought. Following the sliding value ofEthereum, a lot of ICO projects opt to sell their ETH holdings to secure a morestable money. However, it only resulted to more than 90% unsuccessful startupswhile others fail to generate revenues.

Since then, Bitcoin moved ahead andbecame a safe-haven asset. Then, because of the temporary bullishness alonehelped BTC to recover, unlike ETH.

Competition in the Blockchain Space

Ethereum is still on the positionwhere it struggles to emerge in the blockchain market. Binance Chain, EOS, andTron are some of the blockchain projects that stop the ETH in enjoying marketdominance. Though these projects have no negative effect to the narrative ofBTC, their growth tends to have a threat to Ethereum.

On the bright side, Ethereum got anadvantage due to Decentralized Finance (DeFi). The protocols that allow apeer-to-peer lending with the help of ETH hold $687 million reserves and willgrow up to $293 million this January. Thus, analysts expect that DeFi can bethe next ICO mania for the second-largest crypto asset by market valuation in2020.