Legendary trader and analyst Peter Brandt unleashed some scathing criticism of Ethereum (ETH). Brandt did not hold back, labelling ether a “junk coin” straightforwardly.

Despite being the industry’s second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, he questions Ethereum’s ability to function as a reliable store of value, especially when compared to Bitcoin.

A ‘Bitcoin Pretender’

In a recent post on the X (formerly Twitter) platform, Peter Brandt expressed his dissatisfaction with Ethereum, branding it an inferior store of value compared to Bitcoin. Brandt isn’t optimistic about the coin’s future, contending that it lacks the basic attributes necessary for long-term viability.

Launched in 2015, Ethereum enhanced the functionalities associated with Bitcoin as a payment token by implementing smart contracts. With these programmable contracts, many groundbreaking applications were born to form the foundation for defi and the non-fungible token (NFT) ecosystem.

Brandt highlighted Ethereum’s apparent weaknesses as a store of value and criticized its functionality, pointing to challenges with layer-2 solutions and absurd gas fees. He boldly went so far as to label the asset “a BTC pretender”.

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To corroborate his claims, Brandt — a proprietary trader since 1975 — referenced the ETH/BTC price chart showing ether’s continued decline against Bitcoin since late 2021. Per his analysis, ETH’s recent plunge to a crucial support level of 0.05 BTC per altcoin indicates more weakness compared to Bitcoin.

Brandt’s Bearish ETH Price Prediction

It’s worth noting that this is not the first time Brandt has voiced skepticism toward ether. Back in December 2023, he publicly announced that he was shorting ether as he believed the top altcoin was doomed to plummet. At the time, he predicted ETH’s fall to as low as $650.

Such a brutal swipe from a seasoned trader like Brandt adds to the ongoing debate about Ethereum’s future.

Investor sentiment around Ethereum could significantly improve if the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approves spot ETH exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for listing on exchanges. However, the likelihood of the SEC giving the regulatory nod to such ether-based products is super low given the regulator has launched a vigorous campaign to reclassify ETH as a security.