Intro
Ethereum is still one of the most popular blockchains in the crypto market. It was one of the very first to launch, back in 2015, and since then, the price of its native Ether ($ETH) token has also remained the second largest cryptocurrency after Bitcoin in terms of market capitalization. This decentralized blockchain empowers users to make transactions, earn interest on their holdings via staking, use and store non-fungible tokens (NFTs), trade, play games, and use social media. Also, Ethereum is out of the crypto space with many innovative Web3 projects, such as smart contracts, dApps, and more.
However, even though Ethereum is still the strongest blockchain platform that is dominant for dApps developers, it still has some drawbacks that stop this blockchain from being widely adopted. These include low transaction speeds and high network fees, and other blockchain technologies are willing to fix and improve it. That is why today we decided to draw your attention to the projects that are the main Ethereum competitors in 2023. What do they offer, and can they compete with ETH? Let's find out.
About Ethereum
Before moving on to competitors of Ethereum, we decided to quickly remind you of the project itself. In simple terms, Ethereum is a decentralized global software platform that is based on blockchain technology and can be used by other people to create any secure digital technology. In addition, this platform is known for its own cryptocurrency Ether (ETH). "Ethereum is designed to be scalable, programmable, secure, and decentralized. It is the blockchain of choice for developers and enterprises creating technology based upon it to change how many industries operate and how we go about our daily lives." - Investopedia.
As already mentioned, this platform was launched in 2015 by Vitalik Buterin and Joe Lubin, who were the first people to consider the potential of the blockchain. This is what helped them create a cryptocurrency that is so large in market value that it is second only to Bitcoin. According to ethereum.org, 3986 projects and 50.5 million smart contracts have been built on Ethereum so far.
What Are Ethereum Killers?
Last year, the entire crypto world was full of headlines such as “Ethereum Killers 2022”. But what is it? In fact, Ethereum killer is a term that was coined to describe a blockchain that directly competes with Ethereum. "These competing chains will have many of Ethereum's features, but they tend to use different technologies, claiming to improve Ethereum's shortcomings." - WorldCoin.
Also, Ethereum rivals often claim that they will have both higher transaction speeds and lower gas fees. That’s rather ironic that all these competing blockchains also use smart contract technology, which was first introduced by Ethereum. Beyond that, the best Ethereum alternatives have the same goal, which is to encourage Web3 developers to create decentralized applications on their blockchains. Competitors also offer other projects, such as NFT.
Top Best Ethereum Competitors 2023
Solana
Solana is a strong Ethereum competitor and is one of the newest layer-1 blockchains that, since its launch in 2021, has instantly aroused the interest of the entire crypto community. This is a popular smart contract blockchain with open-source software (OSS), that uses a proof-of-history (PoH) consensus mechanism. The project aims to create a scalable, secure, and truly decentralized platform with an opportunity to support thousands of nodes with no damage to throughput. Also, the Solana blockchain uses the latest, next-generation DApps technologies.
Solana's sophisticated system allows it to verify transactions almost instantly, which solves an existing Ethereum problem. “Indeed, one of Solana's major selling points has been its fast confirmation times. At roughly 65,000 transactions per second (TPS), Solana is one of the fastest cryptocurrencies.”  - WorldCoin. Another undoubted advantage of Solana is its eco-friendly blockchain, which does not require large expenses.
However, even though Solana has generated interest, as well as received recognition and distribution, it is also not without flaws. The crypto community notes that Solana has fewer nodes than Ethereum, which means it is more centralized. Moreover, it is also associated with centralized crypto exchanges, which makes it less attractive in terms of security. In addition to this, Solana has also experienced many network outrages and hacks, which have also taken a toll on her reputation. Thus, while this blockchain is solving the existing problems of Ethereum, the issue of security and many Solana competitors does not allow it to take the lead in 2023.
Cardano
Cardano is a smart contract blockchain platform that was launched back in 2017 and uses a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism called Ouroboros. It is important to note that Cardano is considered a third generation blockchain, which means that its technology is oriented on eliminating of the first and second generation of blockchains Bitcoin and Ethereum problems. This blockchain is designed by Input Output Hong Kong company and Charles Hoskinson (an Ethereum co-founder). "The Cardano blockchain uses a cryptocurrency called ADA to pay for transactions and reward validators. Typically, ADA ranks in the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap and is now available on most centralized crypto exchanges (CEXs)." - WorldCoin.
Cardano uses Haskell, a programming language that attracts functional programming developers to participate in the project along with a growing scientific community. Smart contracts for Cardano are written in Plutus, a programming language that shares some common features with Haskell. It is important to note that, unlike Solana, Cardano has taken a higher quality and more sustainable approach to build a blockchain, so everything in its ecosystem must undergo several peer reviews to confirm its safety and effectiveness. Moreover, unlike Cardano competitors such as Ethereum, this blockchain is already built on proof of stake, which makes it more energy efficient and environmentally friendly. Thus, transaction verification requires much less power compared to Ethereum. "Cardano can process more than 1,000 transactions per second (TPS), which is significantly faster than Bitcoin’s transaction speed and comparable to other high-speed Blockchain platforms like EOS." - BlockchainCouncil.
Polkadot
Cardano, already presented by us, can be safely attributed to strong Polkadot competitors since both are smart contract blockchains. This multi-chain platform was created by a former Ethereum developer Dr. Gavin Wood with the main purpose to join all existing blockchains into one global ecosystem to remove all the defects with scalability, and interaction. Apart from this, Polkadot also has its own DOT cryptocurrency, which users can use for voting, paying transaction fees, and more.
Speaking about Polkadot, it is worth noting that its network has a rather complex architecture that includes a main relay chain and parachains that are used to create dApps. The functionality of this network is also similar in many ways to Ethereum, as it also works not only with decentralized apps but also with NFTs.
Many crypto researchers list Polkadot as the best Ethereum competitor as it expands the blockchain perspective and aims to create an interconnected blockchain internet. However, Polkadot does not consider itself a separate crypto ecosystem but only aims for blockchain interoperability. "Rather than choosing between Polkadot and Ethereum, it should be seamless for Web3 users to interact with countless dApps via Polkadot's ecosystem." - WorldCoin.
Avalanche
Another of the Ethereum alternatives is Avalanche, a smart contract blockchain that was launched in 2020 and uses PoS. This blockchain is built on a unique Avalanche consensus protocol (ACP) and was created to reduce other blockchains’ failures such as slow transacting, centralization, and scalability. Thus, this protocol provides parallel processing of transactions. Avalanche surprises with its speed and can complete over 4,500 transactions per second and confirm transactions in less than two seconds. The blockchain has achieved this speed thanks to a layered architecture that separates the consensus layer from the execution layer.
Avalanche is the top Ethereum competitor as it stands out from other projects with its three-tiered blockchain structure. "Developers can access different features using Avalanche's P-Chain, X-Chain, or C-Chain. C-Chain connects to the Ethereum Virtual Machine, which means dApps on Ethereum can connect to the Avalanche network." - WorldCoin. Thus, a unique consensus called Avalanche, shows a low retention period, a high throughput, minimal gas fees, and strong protection against hacker attacks.
BSC
Another strong ETH competitor is Binance Smart Chain - a blockchain network created for the development of high-performance apps and dApps based on Smart contracts. The platform was born in 2021, and its founder, Changpeng Zhao, claimed that BSC should become a bridge between centralized and decentralized finances with rapid transactions and low fees. The platform supports compatibility with Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). Thus, BSC is included in the top 10 Ethereum competitors as it combines smart contract functionality and high transaction throughput.
"Block times for Ethereum range from about 2 to 14 seconds per block, whereas BSC posts about 3-second block times, although Ethereum’s scaling development (Eth2) could change things for Ethereum." - Coin Telegraph. BSC also differs from Ethereum in that it uses a Proof-of-stake mechanism instead of proof-of-work, which already provides lower costs and faster transaction speeds.
Conclusion
In 2023, Ethereum competition is getting more and more intense, however, crypto analysts still believe that this platform will remain on the market. Since Ethereum has been a pioneer in the world of Smart Contract blockchain, other crypto competitors are still far behind and have their own shortcomings. Moreover, most Web3 cryptocurrencies still work on the Ethereum protocols, so for now, it is not possible to force the project out of the market. However, blockchains like Solana and Cardano also undoubtedly have a bigger future and will likely continue to grow and improve this year.
Disclaimer: Notum does not provide any investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. This article is written for informational purposes only. Cryptocurrency is subject to market risk. Please do your own research and trade with caution.