Why is ETH so popular? From technological revolution to DeFi king

Recently, someone asked me, why is everyone buying ETH? Instead of giving you a bunch of technical whitepapers, let me put it plainly: ETH is the “operating system” of the crypto world.

From Mining to Staking: How Did ETH Switch Things Up?

The big event in 2022 called “The Merge” changed everything. ETH switched from Proof of Work (PoW—mining with computing power) to Proof of Stake (PoS—earning rewards by holding coins). Sounds complicated? But it really means:

• Power consumption dropped straight from 100% to 1%—ETH became super green, so environmentalists can stop complaining about it
• Transaction speed improved—laying the groundwork for future scaling tech (sharding)
• Harder to attack—economic penalty mechanisms make it costly for bad actors

This move upgraded ETH from a “mining machine” to a “financial operating system.”

DeFi Runs on ETH

Smart contracts on ETH are like self-executing agreements—you don’t need a bank; you can lend, trade, and issue tokens directly on-chain. Check out these use cases:

Lending platforms: Your coins earn interest 24/7, no one asks for a service fee

Decentralized exchanges: No need to worry about exchanges going bankrupt, your coins always stay in your own wallet

Stablecoin ecosystem: Things like USDT mostly run on ETH’s ERC-20 standard, with huge trading volumes

This isn’t just hype—hundreds of billions of dollars flow through ETH every day.

Why Does On-Chain Data Favor ETH?

Macro economic perspective: Fed policies, inflation data, and other big events all impact ETH’s price trends. The good news is, as more institutions get involved, ETH’s pricing logic is becoming more rational

Tech upgrades: Every Ethereum upgrade (including sharding rollout) sparks a wave of buying. This is real demand, not just hype

Ecosystem boom: DeFi, NFT, and DAO have all matured rapidly in recent years, and they all use ETH

What About USDT?

Stablecoins are simple and straightforward—always pegged close to $1. Their value lies in: when the market gets crazy, retail traders rush into USDT for safety; it’s also used for instant settlement in international trade. The demand is always there, just like cash.

What Can We Expect in the Future?

Optimistic market forecasts:

• ETH could reach $10,000 by 2025
• By 2030, it could even surpass $15,000

Drivers include: full rollout of sharding tech, continued DeFi expansion, and ongoing influx of institutional funds.

But reality is—no one can predict coin prices with 100% certainty. The key is understanding why this ecosystem is valuable: it’s not pure speculation; there are actually hundreds of billions of dollars in real trading volume.

Final thoughts: ETH has transformed from an energy monster into a green machine, from pure currency to a programmable financial platform. This change isn’t just a temporary thrill—it’s a systemic evolution.