Scott Morgan is a crypto expert, blockchain consultant, an award-winning screenwriter and director, as well as the Founder & CEO of Crypto Integrity Tao & Creativity First Films. He has written five books that present the future of edge technology interfaced with media productions, as well as the ethical way in which both the Hollywood and Chinese studios can be financially healthy through a superior blockchain DLT/tokens investment system that ensures new revenue streams are secured. Scott has also spent the past few years traveling the world to predict the evolution of blockchain networks, CBDC’s, DeFi, and IoT related to recent digital currency along with regulatory trends. We recently connected with him to get his thoughts on BTC vs. Eth. We wanted to know will Eth beat BTC in 2021? BTC has been all over the news 2021 but Eth seems set up for growth. Read on for Scott’s take and if Eth will beat BTC in 2021.
- Will Eth beat out BTC in 2021 and come out on top as a success?
Yes. The chances of Bitcoin doubling again this year are unrealistic, while ETH can easily triple or quadruple in value. And its use in DeFi keeps growing. Bitcoin is the highest-valued Coin, but with every substantial increase in value, the problems inherent in its hash rate, use of electricity, and market manipulation through Futures contracts or coordinated miner withholding of new Bitcoins become more obvious. After you subtract fees and taxes, Bitcoin will need to top $65,000 to pay off new buys at $50,000. Ethereum will conquer its gas fees by offering other incentives. Look at Celsius Network for clues.
- If BTC is digital gold/store of value, would that limit Eth?
Two major requirements to be a store of value are: market stability, and favorable regulations and taxation. Bitcoin is volatile, and tax policies will ultimately punish any challenger to The Fed’s and Treasury’s U.S. Dollar. So, BTC is not a true store of value. Yet, let’s pretend these problems do not exist and it is a store of value. If you remove all distractions and get to its core principles, Bitcoin would need to shun the high-risk leverage in Derivatives, Futures, and DeFi to remain “digital gold.” It must also avoid illegal financial flight and abusive premiums it now enjoys in Nigeria. In contrast, Ethereum can try out dozens of uses for its Smart Contracts, ETH as a Token in other systems, increase usefulness in education and health, and let itself be considered a security instead of property. It is interesting to watch how the miners are threatening the new Proof system for Ethereum; however, Buterin will win this round. So, while Bitcoin can go up in a linear way or jagged line, Ethereum can go wide for 3-dimensional geometric growth. Spreading risk over many systems ensures survival, which in a way says that the Krebs cycle for ETH is superior to Bitcoin’s. In PILLARS OF ENCRYPTION, I explain how both the Komodo Dragon and King Kong ruled only when they were on islands. King Kong became vulnerable when it rose to protect beauty and so will Bitcoin when it sees its own golden reflection. Bitcoin Whales drive the Dark Horse of Thumos with whips of greed, fear, jealousy, and power because they always want to go faster. This will crash the “digital gold chariot” while Ethereum urges on the White Horse.
- Do you expect institutional investors to get on board with Eth?
Eth has two powerful sources of long-term value that Bitcoin does not: the world’s broadest Smart Contract source, and Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, with powerful members like Chase Bank that build out the ecosystem that ultimately favors ETH and all its upcoming evolutions. If Ethereum stays in the lead and innovates in a way to bring Scale from tangent markets like Media and logistics, then its value will consistently rise. Institutional investors will buy it like they did Oracle and early PayPal. Ethereum can also increase in value 5 or 10 times and still be faster in transaction speed than if Bitcoin rose to $75,000. For now, the volatility of Bitcoin makes it attractive, yet soon the stability of Ethereum will be the obvious choice for cryptocurrency investment by institutions. Otherwise, they’re simply “timing the market.”
- Has DeFi given Eth a stronger use case than BTC for a wider range of uses?
Wrapped assets (Bitcoin, Stablecoins, etc.) are nifty. Convenient. Sushiswap and Uniswap are good systems for exchange. And Ethereum rides this popularity – a role Bitcoin cannot directly fill; however, ETH cannot be dependent upon DeFi for rising value because of the many flaws in DeFi regulations, collateral appraisal, hacks, easy manipulation, rising black market crime money laundering, and ultimately the countless lawsuits that could arise from DeFi financing of real estate, art, company Brands, and all else. The shine will wear off DeFi just like it did with ICO’s. This doesn’t mean the Coins are dull and worthless, it just means the concept is too flawed and most DeFi Exchanges are in for the quick kill, not in for creating a balanced nature that lasts as long as Central Banks or physical gold. With leverage or debt recently pinned at 50 times the value of the company investing or any underlying commodity, this can bring a lot of pain when a DeFi Exchange gets hacked or crashes, so the question is if ETH will suffer a deeper cut than Bitcoin.
- Positive or negative, what should investors watch out for in Eth in 2021?
If Bitcoin suffers a few flash crashes before mid-April as C.I.T. predicts, there are two crypto places for investors to go: ETH and the JPM Coin. But the big holders and vaults cannot liquidate fast enough, and this will hurt all cryptocurrencies. Freezes will happen due to Bitcoin and infect Exchanges and DeFi. This also hurts ETH. If Grayscale needs its parent company to invest to keep analytics strong, then we’re seeing how well Grayscale runs a marathon, when its rise was a sprint. Few athletes dominate in both sprinting and marathons – it will be an interesting race. There are a few obstacles in the path of ETH, and value might appear to be stumbling, but that is due more to the fact that there are far more loudmouthed Biitcoin Whales than Ethereum Whales (you don’t see Buterin or Jaime Dimon shouting how the ETH or JPM Coin will hit $1 million just to entice investors.)
On the good side, NFT’s will rise dramatically in use and value — in games, esports, live sports, designer goods, celebrity value, and even concepts of our reality. Want to invent a sure hit Token? The “Elon Tusk” token, referring to the Saxe poem, “Blind Men and the Elephant.” The tusk is the weapon part of that parable, as if Elon’s mind is dangerous. Tokenize faith in the mind of Elon Musk. This process is written about extensively in my book PILLARS OF ENCRYPTION, in chapters such as “The Farming of Imagination.” The ultimate commodity is the potential of the human mind, and ETH will get there while Bitcoin never can. Ethereum is not a tusk – it has not been weaponized, and does not yet pose a threat to fiat currencies around the world.
- Any other takeaways or thoughts?
To fully understand anything that uses energy or has a gravity of its own you must master its Physics. Then it’s safe to leverage this knowledge and move the financial world as if you were today’s Archimedes. Secondly, as Mashinsky demands, “solve their problem first.” Which Creativity First Films using Blockchain will do in many ways. Finally, ask, “What is it unto itself, what is its nature? What does it do, this paradigm-shift Coin you seek?” Ask that of Ethereum and then of Bitcoin. If all elements in the world possess a “Will” and Maxwell’s Demon demands that energy is never destroyed, it is up to humans, not Exchanges, to nurture ETH with a Will that is “socially good.” Neither Bitcoin or upcoming Diem can be trusted to do that, and the contrast will make ETH and Buterin look magnanimous and magnificent. Master the Physics and Humanities aspects of cryptocurrencies – that’s all you need to “think for yourself” and quickly lead industries, beat competition, replace flawed systems with superior ones, and make fortunes. If you cannot “master Physics” hire a consultant like me.
Disclaimer: This content does not necessarily represent the views of IWB.