We have seen multiple altcoins trying to improve upon the Bitcoin protocol. Some coins even use the Bitcoin name in an effort to ride the coattails of the world’s leading cryptocurrency. Bitcoin Plus and BitcoinDark are just two examples of currencies trying to hijack the Bitcoin name for their own benefit. It now seems Ethereum may see a similar problem, as a new project called Ethereum Plus was announced recently.
Why Would Ethereum Plus Even Matter?
So far, there are two legitimate currencies using the Ethereum name. There is the Ethereum currency, which is well-known among cryptocurrency enthusiasts. There is also Ethereum Classic, which came to be after the Ethereum developers decided to bail out DAO investors and enforce a transaction rollback in the form of a hard fork. That decision caused an ideological split between community members and ultimately resulted in two different currencies.
If it were up to the Ethereum Plus team, they would create a third currency using the Ethereum name in the near future. The team feels there are plenty of reasons to create yet another version of Ethereum which is very different from the two existing blockchains already. It would inherit all of the existing sophisticated blockchain methodology, which in itself does not warrant creating a new currency. Ethereum Plus seems to offer nothing new at first glance.
One thing that is quite different is how there would be no Ethereum Plus Foundation. Even though the Ethereum Foundation does not do much wrong these days, the ETHP team feels the Foundation is responsible for determining the coin cap. However, Ethereum has no supply cap in its current form. Even after the switch to proof of stake, the currency will remain inflationary for quite some time to come. It seems Ethereum Plus will have a total supply of 10 million tokens, which is very low compared to Ethereum.
The roadmap for Ethereum Plus also involves the creation of a new brand of smart contracts. The project wants to make this technology more appealing to the average person. It still uses the same technology of Ethereum smart contracts, but Ethereum Plus provides a convenient interface to put together these contracts as needed. In doing so, the team feels it will be providing a “plug-and-play” smart contract solution. Templates will be created to facilitate this switch.
That is the only remarkable difference Ethereum Plus seems to be offering from Ethereum, which does not necessarily warrant a lot of attention. It is even more ludicrous to think this project will raise US$50 million through its ICO, especially considering that anyone can make existing smart contract technology more accessible to everyday users without creating a new ERC20 token. The price per token is locked at US$5 per ETHP. Time will tell if it is worth the money, as we try to keep an open mind toward any new project.
Having said that, there is no reason for Ethereum Plus to even exist in its current form. While it is true Ethereum has some flaws to take into account, Ethereum Plus is not necessarily addressing any of them other than the supply cap issue. Its team seeks to capitalize on the Ethereum name and raise a lot of money in the process. The team also claims they will provide instant transactions, although it remains to be seen how that will work. Tokens are issued on the Ethereum blockchain, which does not offer instant transactions.
