Anthony Sassano, a “cyber threat detection expert” and the co-founder of EthHub, a “fundamentals-focused, open source, community-driven Ethereum research and resources hub”, has said that there are already legitimate use cases for Ethereum – even though the blockchain network has not been able scale effectively.

Sassano, a resident of Australia and an IT and computer programming graduate from La Trobe University, argued via Twitter that “people are putting too much emphasis on scale as a ‘make or break’ for Ethereum.”

List Of Useful Apps Deployed On Ethereum

He pointed out that “without scale”, the following platforms have already been developed on Ethereum:

  • MakerDAO: an ecosystem consisting of a stablecoin (Dai) and the issuance of “collateralized loans” – which is managed by “decentralized governance”,
  • Stablecoins (a few examples):
    • Gemini Dollar (GUSD) – ERC-20 compliant token backed 1-to-1 with USD;
    • USD Coin (USDC) – “an Ethereum token, so you can store it in an Ethereum-compatible wallet, like Coinbase Wallet.”
  • Burner Wallet: an initiative that aims to allow users to exchange “an intuitive currency like DAI” through a user-friendly interface. It’s best suited for places “where it’s hard to find important goods with the traditional currency or the currency may fluctuate immensely in value due to inflation.”
  • Augur: an Ethereum-based decentralized predictions market platform,
  • Gnosis: a predictions market network built on Ethereum,
  • Uniswap: a protocol for “automated token exchange” on Ethereum,
  • Compound: an “Ethereum protocol that establishes money markets with algorithmically set interest rates”,
  • Dharma: a “suite of smart contracts and developer tools that make it possible to borrow and lend cryptoassets on blockchains like Ethereum”,
  • dYdX: a protocol for “decentralized margin trading and derivatives”

In response to Sassano’s claim that it’s not absolutely necessary for Ethereum to scale – in order for its platform to offer value, Ari Paul, the chief information officer at BlockTower Capital, a professional trading and portfolio management firm focused on cryptocurrencies, remarked:

Disagree. Many [Ethereum-based applications] exist but can’t work in a meaningful way with current limitations. Augur is a prime example.  It’s a great proof of concept but not a credible consumer product currently. If it can’t support even a few thousand active users….

Working Well Without Scaling Does Not Mean “We Don’t Need To Scale”

Clarifying what he meant, Sassano said his “point was that [Ethereum-based apps] work in some way without scale” and that MakerDAO “works very well without” having to make upgrades to Ethereum. However, he acknowledged that he “didn’t mean to say that Ethereum doesn’t need to scale.”

Expressing confidence in Ethereum’s long-term potential, Twitter user Mike Fernholz (@MikeFernholz) said:

Many of these will improve and become more efficient, like Veil’s use of [the] 0x [protocol] (an Ethereum-based specification for building decentralized crypto exchanges) to batch transactions. I don't think Augur's goal is to be consumer facing right now.