Solving Ethereum's Biggest Problem

In today's Masters Series, adapted from the April 19 Crypto Capital issue, Eric details how Ethereum has suffered from its own success... explains why an upcoming update to Ethereum could change the cryptocurrency landscape... and reveals how this shift could give us the chance to profit... [Stansberry Research Logo] Delivering World-Class Financial Research Since 1999 [Stansberry Master Series] Editor's note: This crypto became a victim of its own success... Ethereum stands behind only bitcoin as the world's second-largest cryptocurrency... But Crypto Capital editor Eric Wade believes this high status is having a negative impact on the crypto's performance... In short, Eric says Ethereum is so popular that it has become too expensive for folks to process transactions on its blockchain. But he contends that an upcoming update could turn this whole situation around... In today's Masters Series, adapted from the April 19 Crypto Capital issue, Eric details how Ethereum has suffered from its own success... explains why an upcoming update to Ethereum could change the cryptocurrency landscape... and reveals how this shift could give us the chance to profit... --------------------------------------------------------------- Solving Ethereum's Biggest Problem By Eric Wade, editor, Crypto Capital "The fees were crazy high!" "Does it really cost this much to transfer my tokens?" "I gave up trying to make the transaction go through." It's some of the most frequent feedback we get... Over the past year, we've seen a massive uptick in transaction fees on Ethereum (ETH). I ran into this problem recently. I wanted to transfer some Ethereum from my MetaMask wallet to a centralized exchange. Simply sending my Ethereum from one address to another would have cost $80. That wouldn't bother me if I were trying to send $1 million worth of Ethereum. But I was trying to send just $100. That means it would have cost me $180 to do a $100 transfer. Meanwhile, I could do a similar transaction for about $0.05 on Binance Smart Chain. I closed MetaMask and decided to do the transaction later. And I'm not alone... Ethereum fees, commonly called "gas" fees, are what sustain the miners and keep the ecosystem working. If you conduct a transaction on any network, you should expect to pay a fee. I've said before that I have a general mistrust of systems or networks that don't have fees. But Ethereum has added so many new users and has become so busy that the demand for access is outstripping the network's capabilities. You see, Ethereum is the world's second-largest crypto by market cap. It's the largest crypto if you count users and transactions. So by some metrics, ETH has already passed bitcoin (BTC). Ethereum has gotten too popular to process transactions in a cheap or efficient way. A simple swap on the Ethereum mainnet can cost anywhere from $20 to $100, compared with a few dollars or cents on blockchains like Avalanche or Harmony. In many ways, Ethereum has become a victim of its own success. --------------------------------------------------------------- Recommended Link: [His First-Ever WARNING]( In the past four years, one analyst has "picked off" every top spot in our Hall of Fame. His research has drawn attention from tens of thousands of readers. And now, he's issuing his first-ever WARNING. To see the prediction and what it could mean for your money, [click here](. --------------------------------------------------------------- The surge in Ethereum gas fees has caused billions of dollars to bridge to cheaper blockchains. Ethereum has simply gotten too expensive for most users. Last April, Ethereum had 80% of the crypto market's total value locked ("TVL") on its blockchain. Today, it only has 59% of the market's TVL. That's where ETH 2.0 comes in... With ETH 2.0, Ethereum will shift from an energy-inefficient Proof-of-Work consensus mechanism to the more efficient Proof-of-Stake mechanism. This upgrade aims to increase Ethereum's scalability while maintaining the security and decentralization of the network. But it's only the first step... The real long-term solution is "sharding." Sharding will split the blockchain data horizontally to expand the capacity of the network. It will reduce network fees substantially and increase transaction throughput by creating new subchains called "shards." We believe the ETH 2.0 upgrade and sharding will make Ethereum the Layer 1 blockchain of choice. If Ethereum can offer low-cost transactions, it would be the first blockchain to be decentralized, secure, and cost- and energy-efficient. You see, every blockchain faces three main challenges to become successful... First, it must be secure. It needs to be difficult to rewrite the history of the blockchain, post invalid transactions, and perform double-spending or 51% attacks. Second, it must be decentralized. Instead of power residing in the hands of a few, it's shared by the community. Finally, it must be able to scale to handle a growing number of users in a cost- and energy-efficient way. Typically, blockchains sacrifice one pillar to satisfy the other two. It's the "blockchain trilemma." For example, some blockchains have cheap and fast transactions. But they've sacrificed decentralization or security for their scalability. Meanwhile, Ethereum is extremely secure and decentralized. But it has a scalability problem. It's so popular that it has higher transaction fees than any other blockchain. This blockchain trilemma has kept many developers and investors on the sidelines. But soon, developers and investors will have one Layer 1 blockchain that offers everything – creating a wave of new development and investment on Ethereum. So this upgrade will have a big impact on the market. We believe it will move us from Crypto 1.0 to Crypto 2.0... where crypto and the blockchain finally go mainstream. We're already seeing signs of it happening... Some of the biggest companies in the world – like Ford, Visa, and MetLife – are already invested in and using crypto. Meanwhile, countries like El Salvador and the Central African Republic are using or allowing crypto as legal tender. And we're seeing more and more individual investors get into this space. Over the past 12 months, the number of Ethereum addresses holding even the smallest amount has risen from 59.7 million to 81.9 million, according to Glassnode. That's a 37% increase. With cheaper and faster transactions and a way to beat inflation... we expect more money to flow into this space... pushing up the prices of many tokens and coins. Good investing, Eric Wade --------------------------------------------------------------- Editor's note: Eric believes that when Ethereum's upgrade is finished, it won't be the only crypto to rocket higher... He says that the price of 3,000 cryptos that operate on Ethereum's network could soar as well. And with so many of them to choose from, he has managed to pinpoint five tokens that his research indicates could deliver 10-bagger gains... but only if you act now. [Click here to learn more](. --------------------------------------------------------------- Recommended Link: [Will This Be the Worst U.S. Crisis Ever?]( A wealthy 73-year-old U.S. entrepreneur retreats to one of his three European properties to issue a serious warning (and four recommendations) for Americans. "It falls on someone like me to warn you clearly. I'm too rich to care about money and too old to care what anyone thinks." [Click here for details](... --------------------------------------------------------------- You have received this e-mail as part of your subscription to Stansberry Digest. If you no longer want to receive e-mails from Stansberry Digest [click here](. Published by Stansberry Research. You’re receiving this e-mail at {EMAIL}. Stansberry Research welcomes comments or suggestions at feedback@stansberryresearch.com. This address is for feedback only. For questions about your account or to speak with customer service, call 888-261-2693 (U.S.) or 443-839-0986 (international) Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Eastern time. Or e-mail info@stansberrycustomerservice.com. Please note: The law prohibits us from giving personalized investment advice. © 2022 Stansberry Research. All rights reserved. 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