2024: The Year of Ethereum’s Biggest Network Growth

2024: A Potential Milestone Year for Ethereum and the Crypto Market

The future looks bright for the Ethereum blockchain, with 2024 poised to be a record-breaking year.

Not only is there a chance for the approval of an Ether (ETH) spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the US, but it will also mark the first bull cycle since the Merge in 2022.

With the Merge, ETH becomes deflationary during periods of high network usage, as 0.2% of the supply has already been burned since its implementation. And with the expected increase in network usage, this number will only continue to grow in the coming months.

But that’s not all – this year also brings the highly anticipated Ethereum Improvement Proposal 4844. This update aims to significantly reduce the cost of transactions on layer-2 (L2) blockchains built around Ethereum, potentially making them up to 10 times cheaper.

This will be a pivotal moment for Ethereum and L2s, leading to their most successful year yet.

The concept is simple: without L2s, Ethereum cannot scale. And without the support of subchains and dedicated business development teams, L2s cannot grow at the necessary pace.

The Definition of Ethereum

To fully comprehend this concept, it’s important to first understand what Ethereum truly is.

Unlike Bitcoin (BTC), which is primarily viewed as an asset, Ether serves a larger purpose as a decentralized application (DApp) development platform. This means that in order for it to hold value, valuable applications must exist and thrive on its platform.

While some of these applications have already emerged from Web3, the majority will come from traditional companies adapting their systems to integrate with the blockchain.

However, this has not been easily achieved in the past. The lack of specialized knowledge and guidance in the blockchain space has hindered the development of non-native Web3 “killer apps” and discouraged companies from maintaining their on-chain applications after the last bull cycle.

Fortunately, this is all about to change in 2024.

With more experienced leaders at the helm of large companies and a more mature mindset towards building on the blockchain, the ecosystem is beginning to specialize and cater to specific niches.

As evident by the segmentation of L2 blockchains into subchains with specialized teams and structures, the future is looking bright for on-chain development. Companies will no longer have to compete for block space with meme coins and NFTs, and will have the guidance and support they need to successfully build on the blockchain.

Revolutionizing the Crypto Industry with Chain Development Kits

The crypto industry is experiencing a major boom, with more and more companies jumping on the bandwagon. One such company leading the charge is Polygon, which is diversifying its offerings by creating subchains tailored to specific use cases.

This is made possible through Polygon’s innovative Chain Development Kit (CDK), which serves as a foundation for these subchains. By connecting all liquidity through an aggregation layer, Polygon is able to offer a more efficient and specialized approach to blockchain development.

In recent weeks, Polygon has made several major announcements, signaling its commitment to this path. And it’s not the only one – other major L2 blockchains are following suit with their own versions of the CDK, such as Optimism’s “Op-Stack”.

This shift towards specialization is set to intensify in 2024, as various subchains and business development teams from different L2 blockchains compete for dominance in the market. It’s a battle that will ultimately lead to the emergence of killer apps in Web3, finally bridging the gap between Web2 and blockchain technology.

As more and more companies and users incorporate blockchain into their daily lives, 2024 will mark the beginning of the retention cycle. This will undoubtedly be the biggest year for L2 blockchains and, in turn, for the Ethereum network as a whole.