An analyst at 21Shares sees Ethereum’s potential as akin to Amazon’s meteoric rise in the 90s, arguing that Wall Street is only beginning to understand its disruptive power. With billions in decentralized finance and a thriving developer community, Ethereum may be on the brink of a massive transformation.

Ethereum’s Potential Echoes Amazon’s Early Days

A research analyst at crypto asset manager 21Shares claims that Wall Street investors are similarly oblivious to Ethereum's potential as they were to Amazon in the early 1990s before the internet titan became a $2 trillion behemoth.

Although they debuted in July, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that invest in Ether have had lower inflows than ETFs that invest in Bitcoin.

Ethereum’s Growth Requires Investor Understanding

According to Leena ElDeeb, a research analyst at 21Shares, who spoke with Cointelegraph, huge investments into Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) won't occur until the whole potential of Ethereum is recognized.

The Ethereum platform is "complex, akin to Amazon in the 1990s — promising vast potential but less straightforward in its use cases," according to Eldeeb.

From Online Bookstore to Tech Giant

"Few could have predicted that it would transform into a global e-commerce and cloud computing giant, reshaping how we shop and use digital services," stated Federico Brokate, VP and head of the US business unit at 21Shares, with reference to Amazon's transformation from an online bookstore.

In a similar vein, Ethereum has grown from its humble beginnings as a platform for simple smart contracts in 2015 to power more than 140 billion dollars' worth of decentralized financial applications today.

Ethereum’s Future May Hold Surprising Innovations

“Just as Amazon evolved beyond books to redefine entire industries, Ethereum may also surprise us with revolutionary use cases that we can’t fully envision today.”

The enormous pool of talent striving to make the network usable is one benefit Ethereum had over Amazon in the 1990s, according to Brokate, even though Ethereum's $320 billion market cap is only 6.25 percent of Amazon's $2 trillion valuation.

Developer Growth Parallels Amazon’s Workforce Expansion

“By the end of the 1990s, Amazon employed around 7,600 people. In contrast, the Ethereum network today features over 200,000 active developers — including software engineers, researchers, and protocol designers — all contributing to its evolution,” Brokate said.

“Amazon has grown to employ over 1.5 million people worldwide — growth we may see paralleled in the Ethereum ecosystem.”