For years, fans of Ether could not even dream that their favorite cryptocurrency could compete with Bitcoin. But now it is a much more realistic ambition, writes Reuters.

The world’s second-largest cryptocurrency has taken a bite out of Bitcoin’s market share in anticipation of a long-awaited update that could significantly reduce the energy consumption of Ethereum’s ethereum-powered blockchain.

According to data from CoinMarketCap, Bitcoin’s market dominance has fallen to 39.1% from a peak of 47.5% in mid-June.

Instead, ether achieved a market share of 20.5%, compared to the previous percentage of 16%.

It may seem like these two cryptocurrencies are still a long way apart, but Ether has come a long way since last year, with only a 10% market share in January 2021, while Bitcoin had absolute market dominance with a 72% share.

In terms of price, one Ether is currently worth 0.082 Bitcoin, which is close to the all-time high recorded last December and the low of 0.049 in June.

Ethereum, the future of cryptocurrency?

“Essentially, people now see Ethereum as a safe asset because they’ve seen the success of the network, they think it’s not going anywhere,” says Joseph Edwards, head of financial strategy at Solris Finance.

“There is a consistency in how Ethereum is viewed in the crypto ecosystem,” notes the analyst.

The big update, dubbed “The Merger” by industry enthusiasts, is expected to take place on Thursday after several delays. This could lead to wider adoption of blockchain technology and a significant increase in the price of Ether, but nothing is certain in the volatile world of cryptocurrencies.

The Ethereum blockchain forms the basis of the so-called “Web3” vision of the future of the Internet, in which cryptocurrency will play a central role in the use of decentralized financial applications and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Bitcoin remains the most expensive cryptocurrency

Both bitcoin and ether have lost nearly half their value this year amid central banks raising key interest rates to curb soaring inflation.

Despite their extreme volatility, many investors have turned to cryptocurrencies as a way to hedge their savings against inflation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, the price of Ether has increased by more than 65% since the end of June in anticipation of the “Merger”, while the price of Bitcoin has stagnated during the same time period.

In terms of total market value, Bitcoin is $427 billion, more than double the value of Ether ($210 billion), and some investors still consider the cryptocurrency created by the legendary Satoshi Nakamoto to be the gold standard in the cryptocurrency market.