Don't ignore what is going on with Ethereum, analyst says as stablecoins erupt

While ETH prices have remained in the proverbial dumps, the underlying Ethereum blockchain has seen a flurry of activity and development of recent months.

Due to a Cambrian explosion in the demand for stablecoins based on Ethereum, ETH has rapidly been losing dominance on its home blockchain.

That's to say, ETH may not be the driving monetary force on its own chain in the coming weeks.

Due to the growth in stablecoins and other ERC tokens, the fees spent by users of Ethereum have increased dramatically over the past few months to near all-time highs.

The trends identified are still nascent, but the Messari analyst said that they show how the fundamental nature of the Ethereum blockchain and ETH's utility and investment case have changed dramatically.

"In short, Ethereum is being used more than ever, and in just two years, Ethereum has evolved from a blank canvas to an agglomeration of novel forms of value and use cases."

Investors aren't ignoring ETH. Watkins is right: large investors are seemingly taking what's going on with the second-largest blockchain seriously.

They're largely bullish, despite the assertions by some that ETH is not a proper investment.

Chart of ETH whale holdings from blockchain analytics firm Santiment.

For one, Tyler Winklevoss and Cameron Winklevoss of the Gemini cryptocurrency exchange revealed that they "Definitely own a lot of ether," calling their holdings a "Material amount." The twins added that their stash of ETH is in the "Same galaxy" as their Bitcoin holdings, which would mean they own hundreds of millions of dollars worth of the asset.