Ethereum was supposed to change everything. A decentralized world computer. A new internet. A foundation for unstoppable apps that would reshape finance, social media, coordination, and identity. And after almost a decade, it has delivered…
Nothing.
There are no killer apps. No mainstream usage. No actual need. And despite all the talk of innovation, almost every serious use case either doesn’t require Ethereum—or is done better without it.
It’s time to be honest: Ethereum doesn’t just have an app problem—it has a purpose problem.
The App Store Is Already Full. Permanently.
People only have a few hours a day on their phones. That time is already mostly claimed by 10–15 world-class apps: maps, messaging, social media, payments, email, banking, dating, entertainment. These apps are free, beautiful, and hyper-optimized. Most people don’t want more apps. They don’t have the time. And they don’t have a problem that isn’t already solved by what they’ve got.
Any new app must compete with that. Ethereum-based apps don’t just fail to compete—they barely exist. After all these years, there is not a single Ethereum application that mainstream users want. Not one that makes it onto a home screen.
Decentralization Isn’t Real—or Useful
The crypto world loves to say Ethereum enables “decentralized, permissionless applications.” But in reality, every Ethereum app that wants to reach real users still depends on:
- Apple’s App Store
- Google Play
- Smartphones and operating systems owned by major corporations
These platforms can—and do—remove apps at will. Governments can pressure them. Companies can restrict them. Distribution is not decentralized. It never was. If you can be de-platformed, you’re not censorship resistant. You’re just pretending.
And for what? The average person doesn’t care about decentralization. They want things to be fast, simple, and reliable. Ethereum adds friction, complexity, and cost—for no clear gain.
There Are No Apps Because There’s No Reason for Any
Even now, Ethereum’s supposed app ecosystem is built around speculation:
- Wallets to hold speculative assets
- DEXes to trade speculative assets
- NFT platforms to flip digital assets (also speculative)
- DAOs to vote on how to spend speculative assets
- “Social dapps” that no one uses unless they’re farming tokens
This isn’t a new internet. It’s a recursive loop—an entire ecosystem built to trade with itself. It exists for insiders. It’s powered by incentives, not need. The only people who care are already inside it.
The Harsh Truth: Most Blockchains Exist to Make Founders Rich
Let’s drop the idealism for a moment. Most new blockchains and tokens exist for one reason:
To make their creators rich by selling tokens to retail investors.
The model is simple:
- Invent a token.
- Create some vague use case.
- Hype it as the future of finance, social, or AI.
- Sell it to the public.
- Exit before the next cycle collapse.
Ethereum might not be a scam—but it is the blueprint for thousands of tokens that clearly are. Its success is measured in how many people try to copy it, not in how much real value it has produced.
Even Its One Use Case—Stablecoins—Doesn’t Need Ethereum
Let’s admit it: the only real use case Ethereum has today is transferring stablecoins.
Stablecoins like USDC and USDT are genuinely useful. They’re used for trading, cross-border payments, and storing value in unstable economies. But here’s the punchline:
Ethereum is not the best way to move stablecoins.
Why?
- Gas fees can spike suddenly
- Transactions are slow compared to centralized systems
- UX is terrible for non-technical users
- Other networks (like Tron, Solana, or even centralized APIs) do it faster and cheaper
If Ethereum can’t even defend its one use case, what does it have left?
Layer 2s Made the Problem Worse
Ethereum Layer 2s were supposed to fix cost and speed. Instead, they made the ecosystem more fragmented and confusing. Now we have dozens of L2s, each functioning like a startup:
- Their own teams and funding
- Tokens or plans for tokens
- Empty ecosystems with no killer apps
They promise the same vague future that Ethereum did—just on a smaller scale. It’s innovation theater. More complexity. Still no product.
Businesses Won’t Adopt Ethereum—Because There’s No Reason To
Maybe, you say, Ethereum doesn’t need to win the consumer market. Maybe existing companies will integrate it. That’s the new hopium. But ask yourself:
Why would they?
Integrating Ethereum introduces:
- Volatility
- Regulatory uncertainty
- Security risks
- UX challenges
- Infrastructure headaches
And what do they get in return? Nothing they don’t already have. Payments? Already solved. Smart contracts? Can be implemented internally. Transparency? Most businesses aren’t looking to make all operations public.
There is no clear business case for Ethereum integration.
What Are We Actually Building?
Ethereum is technically fascinating. But what are we building with it?
- Money to move money
- Tokens to trade tokens
- DAOs to fund more DAOs
- Infrastructure to support more speculation
This isn’t a revolution. It’s a recursive mirage. And it’s starting to look like the entire experiment was based on the assumption that usefulness would arrive “eventually.”
It hasn’t.
Maybe It Just Doesn’t Matter
Ethereum isn’t a scam. It’s not dead. But it might be irrelevant.
A beautifully engineered solution for problems nobody has. A decentralized platform that relies on centralized distribution. A promise of freedom that quietly became a business model.
There’s still no killer app. No mainstream use. No reason to care.
And if you have to keep asking what it’s for—maybe the answer is: nothing.
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