'Bitcoin Wouldn't Have The Market Cap It Has Now If Ethereum Wasn't...'

One of the most notable characteristics of the crypto-community, one that has remained somewhat constant throughout the last few years, is the vocal tribalism among differing camps. Whether one is a Bitcoiner or an Etherean, the battle lines have for long been drawn, especially between proponents representing two of the world’s largest cryptocurrencies.

According to some like 1confirmation’s Nick Tomaino, the aforementioned tribalism is still very much like what was the case back in the “2015-16 era of crypto.” In fact, the exec also claimed that the prevailing belief that DeFi is going to happen on Bitcoin is suggestive of how “biased and tribal” some people are.

Ethereum, on the other hand, Tomaino added, has open ethos and is inclusive. This comment, coupled with his appreciation of Vitalik Buterin, lent weight to the exec’s assertion that his fund is “incredibly bullish” on Ethereum.

These comments were made by Tomaino on the latest edition of the Unchained podcast. His remarks came on the back of 1confirmation raising $125M for investments in crypto-startups and digital assets.

What’s more, in a statement that only underlined which ring Tomaino had thrown his hat into, the exec asserted,

“Bitcoin wouldn’t have the market cap it has now if Ethereum wasn’t around because all the innovation stuff like DeFi and NFTs, all innovations that have brought new people to the space, that’s all Ethereum.”

Here, it’s worth noting that following the said comment, the exec was quick to clarify that he is not an Ethereum maximalist.

For all the goodwill that Ethereum has, however, the last few months have once again shed light on its issues, most notably, those concerned with scalability. In fact, according to some like Synthetix’s Cain Warwick, these issues have created market opportunities for the likes of Solana and Binance Smart Chain.

On the contrary, Tomaino is of the opinion that the latter two will not be pushing the crypto-space forward. He said,

“They are really just copying Ethereum and trying to do it better.”

In many ways, this statement is in direct opposition to one made by Warwick, with the developer then claiming that Solana will be the biggest existential threat to Ethereum. Needless to say, opinions differ.

That being said, there seemed to be some degree of unanimity between the two with respect to the issues Ethereum has been facing lately. Astronomical fees are one such concern, with the 1confirmation exec adding,

“The fees for a vast majority of Ethereum applications price out the masses. It’s like it’s still mostly rich people and I think that needs to change.”

This, according to Tomaino, will only change once these apps are built on new chains and L2 solutions start to thrive.

That’s an interesting issue to highlight, however. The timing of it is especially curious since the past few days have seen the average ETH fees drop down to levels last seen back in January.