Ethereum's price is popping, that's undeniable. Up 9% in a day? Bullish signals flashing? Of course, all of this sounds super great when you’re reading the technical analysis. But seriously folks, is anybody winning in these crypto bubbles. Are we on a path toward a more equitable future, or enabling greater concentrations of wealth in place of today’s? I’m looking at the overbought RSI and making the case that this is yet another pump before the dump.
Whose Lives Really Improve Though?
We’re all being sold on the revolutionary potential of blockchain. Decentralized finance, NFTs that are democratizing access for artists and creators, DAOs that are reimagining governance. Sounds amazing, right? Let's connect this to something seemingly unrelated: the Gilded Age. Remember those robber barons? This was a deliberate strategy to build up unconscionable multibillion-dollar fortunes off the progress of technology that underrepresented the plight of the average worker. Are we going down the same path when it comes to crypto? The illusion of broad-based prosperity continues, but now with a sense that only the privileged few are benefiting from it.
Let me be clear, I don’t believe crypto is evil in of itself, quite the opposite in fact. You know what, there are some really truly inspiring projects that are using Ethereum for good. When I spoke to the founder of “Bloom. This global microfinance effort leverages blockchain technology to give loans to women in developing countries who lack access to banking services. They’re doing it by going around conventional financial institutions, providing women with lower interest rates, and giving women the tools and resources to become entrepreneurs. It's a powerful vision. A growing number of projects utilizing Ethereum are developing decentralized identity solutions. In short, these innovations give all of us the means to seize opportunities that would otherwise be unavailable to us while better protecting our personal data.
These projects are often fighting an uphill battle.
Are Gas Fees A New Redlining?
Ethereum's gas fees are insane. Think about it: a transaction fee that can sometimes exceed the loan amount for a microfinance recipient? That's not financial inclusion; that's financial exclusion. It’s today’s equivalent of a digital redlining, keeping those who stand to gain the most from being able to get the technology. How do we create conditions for these communities to succeed? They are being priced out of the very system that was meant to empower them.
That’s why I’m so concerned about the narrative that Ethereum is democratizing by nature when it’s actually the opposite. We have to recognize the barriers to entry and be intentional about removing them. Solutions such as Layer-2 scaling solutions have some potential, yet adoption remains inconclusive. We must do better, with targeted initiatives that help Ethereum benefit everyone and anyone, rather than just the privileged few who can afford it.
Ethical Investing Or Just Another Gamble?
Let’s talk about wealth distribution. Who owns all this Ethereum? The truth is, the majority of it is owned by a very small number of people and companies. A price increase of this magnitude mostly rewards them, deepening economic inequality.
Is that ethical — even in the absence of racism — to invest in a technology that will worsen and deepen existing inequalities? That’s a question we ought to be asking ourselves constantly. It is time to call for more transparency and accountability from this unregulated crypto industry. In short, we need to put our money behind projects that are truly striving to tackle social problems and advance financial inclusion. We should all be both skeptical of the hype and goal-oriented towards the real-world impact.
At the end of the day, the future of Ethereum is up to all of us. Or will we let it turn into yet another tool for the already wealthy to become even wealthier? Or will we squander its potential to replicate the problems of the past and inhibit our ability to escape them? The DMI may be telling us all to buy, but our conscience should be telling us—who exactly? The ADX may be approaching 25, indicating increasing momentum, but whose momentum is it really.
Monitor the central support level closely. It’s not $2462, it’s $2462 because of the support we give to the projects that really make a difference in our communities. The “breakout” we should all be hoping for isn’t a price breakout, it’s an equitable access breakout, a social impact breakout. Because if all this boom only serves to profit insiders, then we’ve completely whiffed on the point.
