Bitwise CIO Calls Ethereum The ‘Microsoft Of Blockchains’, Can ETH Make A Comeback?

Source Newsbtc

Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan dubbed Ethereum (ETH) the ‘Microsoft of blockchains’, adding that none of the smart contract platform’s challenges are existential.

Ethereum Has Challenges, But None Of Them Are Existential

In a recent memo titled ‘A Contrarian Bet on Ethereum’, Hougan highlighted the tumbling ETH/BTC trading pair, indicating the weakening Ethereum price versus Bitcoin (BTC). At press time, the trading pair is exchanging hands at 0.038, its lowest level in three years.

Compared to some of the other leading digital currencies, ETH hasn’t had an eventful 2024. On a year-to-date basis, Bitcoin is up 38%, while the rival smart contract platform Solana (SOL) is up 31%. Binance’s BNB token has surged by 72% in the same period. However, ETH has remained flat, currently trading at $2,306. 

Ethereum’s underperformance in terms of token price, according to Hougan, has made it ‘cool to hate Ethereum right now.’ Hougan noted several factors that might risk the Ethereum ecosystem, including the prospect of Democratic US presidential candidate Kamala Harris winning the election and continuing Biden administration’s suspicious attitude toward everything crypto.

In addition, the Bitwise CIO acknowledged the threats posed by competing blockchain projects, such as Solana, that offer higher throughput and lower transaction costs. He also admitted that ETH exchange-traded-funds (ETFs) haven’t had as much success as Bitcoin ETFs.

Although Hougan acknowledged the success of several Layer-2 solutions such as Base, Arbitrum, and Optimism, he stressed that their success has pulled so much transaction volume from Ethereum that its revenues have crashed to a four-year low. According to Hougan, these reasons are valid but ‘they miss the broader point.’

Hougan stressed that blockchain applications witnessing success in user adoption are all dominated by Ethereum, such as stablecoins and decentralized finance (DeFi). Over 50% of stablecoins are still issued on the ETH blockchain. Similarly, over 60% of DeFi assets are locked in various ETH-powered protocols. 

Hougan Remains Bullish On ETH

In the memo, Hougan mentioned that institutional confidence in Ethereum remains high, as seen in asset manager BlackRock’s decision to develop a tokenized money market on Ethereum this year. Similarly, Nike chose Ethereum to launch its Web 3 gear platform called Swoosh.

He noted:

Ethereum has the most active developers, the most active users, and a market cap that is 5x bigger than its closest competitor. It’s the only programmable blockchain that has a modicum of regulatory support in the U.S., with a booming regulated futures market and a multi-billion-dollar ETF market.

To bolster his argument, Hougan compared Ethereum to software juggernaut Microsoft, saying that even though other tech companies like Google, Zoom, and Slack have offered useful services, Microsoft continues to be larger than all of them put together.

Concluding, Hougan said that Ethereum’s opportunities are enormous. As the world inches closer to the November US presidential elections, the market participants may reevaluate the second largest cryptocurrency by market cap. At press time, ETH trades at $2,306, commanding a total market cap of $277 billion.

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Disclaimer: For information purposes only. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
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Author  Mitrade
2 hours ago
Bitcoin has dropped back below $88,000 after rolling over from $90,500, with price still trading under the 100-hour Simple Moving Average. The sell-off found a floor at $85,151, and BTC is now consolidating near that base, but rebounds are facing pressure from a bearish trend line around $89,000. Bulls need to retake $88,000–$89,000 to ease downside risk; failure to do so keeps $85,500–$85,000 and then $83,500 in play, with $80,000 as the deeper “line in the sand.” Bitcoin (BTC) is back in damage-control mode after a sharp pullback wiped out recent gains. The price failed to reclaim the $90,000–$90,500 band, rolled over, and slid through $88,500 before briefly dipping under $87,000. Buyers did show up around $85,000, but the rebound so far looks more like stabilization than a clear trend reversal. Bitcoin dips hard, finds a bid near $85,000(h3) BTC’s latest move lower began when it couldn’t build follow-through above $90,000 and $90,500. Once that upside stalled, sellers took control and pushed price down through $88,500. The slide accelerated enough to spike below $87,000, but the market didn’t free-fall. Bulls defended the $85,000 zone, printing a low at $85,151. Since then, Bitcoin has been consolidating below the 23.6% Fibonacci retracement of the drop from the $93,560 swing high to the $85,151 low — a clue that the bounce is still shallow and that sellers haven’t fully backed off yet. Structurally, BTC is still on the back foot: It’s trading below $88,000, and It remains below the 100-hour Simple Moving Average, keeping short-term trend pressure pointed downward. Resistance is layered, and $89,000 is the problem area(h3) If bulls try to turn this into a recovery, they’ll have to climb through multiple ceilings in quick succession. First, BTC faces resistance around $87,150, followed by a more meaningful barrier near $87,500. From there, the market’s attention snaps back to $88,000 — the level BTC just lost and now needs to reclaim. A close back above $88,000 would improve the tone, but it doesn’t solve the bigger issue: there’s a bearish trend line on the hourly BTC/USD chart (Kraken feed) with resistance near $89,000, which also lines up with the next technical hurdle. If BTC can push through $89,000 and hold, the rebound could extend toward $90,000, with follow-through targets at $91,000 and $91,500. But until price clears that $88,000–$89,000 zone, rallies are at risk of being sold rather than chased. If BTC fails to reclaim resistance, the downside path is clear(h3) The near-term bear case is simple: if Bitcoin can’t climb back above the $87,000 area and keep traction, sellers may attempt another leg lower. Support levels line up like this: Immediate support: $85,500 First major support: $85,000 Next support: $83,500 Then $82,500 in the near term Below that, the major “don’t break this” level is still $80,000. If BTC slips under $80,000, the risk of acceleration to the downside increases significantly — not because it’s magic, but because it’s the kind of psychological and structural level that tends to trigger forced de-risking. Indicators: momentum still leans bearish(h3) The intraday indicators aren’t offering much comfort yet: Hourly MACD is losing pace in the bearish zone. Hourly RSI remains below 50, suggesting sellers still have the upper hand on short timeframes. So while the $85,000 defense held for now, the market hasn’t flipped bullish — it’s just stopped bleeding.
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