Ethereum revolutionized the blockchain industry by introducing the concept of smart contracts. However, despite its high adoption, the network has shown some significant flaws regarding its scalability.
In the last five years, many blockchain projects emerged as a better alternative to Ethereum. Cardano was one of the major projects that managed to compete, at least in market cap valuation if not for adoption.
In this article, we will compare these two cryptocurrencies and assess which one has the better upside opportunity. To this end, we compare their fundamentals and take a look at some price predictions. This should allow you to make a decision on whether to swap ETH to ADA or stick to the #1 smart contract platform.
What Is ADA?
Cardano is the first scientifically peer-reviewed blockchain to emerge in the industry. Instead of the usual whitepaper, top-thinking heads of the space reviewed the code. This had a goal to ensure that the project benefited from the best current technology.
Charles Hoskinson created Cardano in 2017 to provide a more secure and scalable alternative to Ethereum. The goal was to push out a smart contract-capable network that utilized proof of stake instead of mining.
The Ouroboros consensus mechanism uses the concept of Epochs to create new blocks. It was also one of the first blockchains to implement a functional proof of stake consensus. This has led to a majority of ADA holders staking their tokens.
That said, the Cardano team has been slow to push out significant development. For instance, the team implemented smart contracts in late 2021. This has caused the chain to miss out on builder adoption, and it has only 45 active dApps to this day.
ADA Market Position
The ADA token came into the markets in 2017 and greatly benefitted from the bull market. As a result, it reached a price of $0.99 in 2018. During the subsequent bear market, prices fell as low as low as $0.02.
However, the 2021 bull market brought ADA to new heights with the hope of seeing workable smart contracts on the chain. In September 2021, ADA was trading at $3.10, 150 times higher than its lowest point.
After the bearish market of 2022, the ADA token is currently trading at $0.3.
ADA Price Prediction
Priceprediction.net gives a bullish outcome for the Cardano project. The website hopes to see ADA reach $0.58 in 2024 and as high as $0.89 in 2025. Digitalcoinprice.com is even more bullish. It forecasts $0.76 in 2024 and $1.04 in 2025.
This allows us to think that ADA can bring a better upside than trading ETN vs XMR.
What Is ETH?
In 2015, Ethereum singlehandedly revolutionized the blockchain industry by implementing smart contracts. Consequently, it allowed developers to deploy decentralized applications and tokens on Ethereum.
This premise gave birth to decentralized finance, NFTs, and blockchain games, among other applications in a wide range of industries. This pioneering status allowed it to become the most used smart network, with a staggering $22.4 billion in total value locked within its protocol.
Ethereum recently veered away from proof of work and migrated to a proof of stake consensus. This allows the network to be much more scalable and eco-friendly.
ETH Value History
ETH had a humble start in the markets during its launch year, trading below the $1 mark. In 2018, it rode the ICO hype and reached a staggering $1,270. The bear market that followed and the COVID black swan even pushed prices as low as $125.
That said, in 2021, ETH managed to outperform many blue-chip cryptocurrencies by reaching an all-time high of $4,891. Following the 2022 bear market, Ethereum is currently trading at $1,800.
ETH Price Forecast
Following priceprediction.net, we can expect ETH to reach $3,614 in 2024. In the longer term, the website provides a forecast of $7,573 for 2026.
Digitalcoinprice.com provides similar targets for the same time periods. Their prediction for ETH in 2024 reaches $4,534 and as high as $8,067 for 2026.
ETH to ADA: To Exchange or Not?
Although the price predictions for both ADA and ETH might seem similar in their ROI, we need to take a look at the big picture. Cardano has been struggling to gain any type of massive adoption. Its smart contracts have failed on many levels regarding scalability and usefulness.
On the other hand, Ethereum remains a top coin, with the highest amount of dApps running on its blockchain. What’s more, the rising popularity of layer-2 protocols like Polygon and Optimism will increase the blockspace demand on Ethereum itself.
To conclude, it might be better to hang onto your ETH for the time being or reserve a smaller portion of your portfolio to ADA.