Ethereum and Bitcoin (Flippening) 12 Month Forecast

Here's a reasonable scenario for the next 12 months, being very conservative for Ethereum and very generous to Bitcoin.

• 1st, (1-6 months) RSK doesn't suck completely. It actually gains a few dapps. It's ok. BTC gets some gains, ETH suffers a notch.
• 2nd, Bitcoin doesn't split, and a modest scaling solution passes (1-6 months). Bitcoin surges with the news, which trickles positively throughout crypto a bit, but seems to leave the Flippening behind.
• 3rd, Metropolis delayed until October, a modest increase in ETH relative to the news, but Bitcoin still firmly big papa.
• 4th, Lightening network and Raiden release around same time. Relationship between BTC and ETH unphased, but both chains benefit as a whole.
• 5th, Devcon 3 hits (Nov 1st). People are reminded of the what's actually happening in the crypto space, which was forgotten.
  a) No other blockchain has this much capital dedicated to development, and there appears to be no way to change that relationship for the foreseeable future. Not just the funds held by the Ethereum foundation (which essentially has immortalized it), but also by EAA, and several Dapps, which have also gain so much support they are now near-immortal in their ability to develop Ethereum and ETH out. RSK never had an ICO to push its core tech forward in any sizable way. It permanently locked as an Ethereum dependent. RSK doesn't have EEA, never will. And all other new blockchains would be lucky to reach the funds of a single ETH focused ICO. Essentially, Ethereum IS the innovation lead for the foreseeable future.
  b) Evidence at DevCon3, while PoS and Sharding are still in development, clearly, it will happen. Will it happen without flaws, probably not. Will those flaws create momentary controversy. Maybe. But as we've seen in the past, blockchains, especially Ethereum, live strong through them. It will be fixed, if needed.
  c) A realization that mining cartels can't stop PoS. They COULD try to create another Ethereum, but why would a developer community give a shit about it. People now see that PoS IS going to happen. As will sharding. And in time, it will be a success. There nothing that can top this, only match it, and matching it isn't enough to handle the network ETH has created.
  d) RSK flaws, which have been discussed for over year but seem to be easily forgotten, are further realized now that it's been around for awhile. In fact, putting Bitcoin on Ethereum (whether by relay or two way peg) actually has MUCH more functionality and a stronger set of applicable developer tools and network. As much as this is accepted, without sharding, very little will be done with it. RSK, as a novelty, is still around.
• 6th, Post Devcon 3, Ethereum flips Bitcoin (I actually think this will happen sooner, but remember this is a conservative scenario).
• 7th, Even with Lightening and Raiden, Bitcoin and Ethereum start suffering greater transaction lag and increase costs. A new civil war emerges in Bitcoin, how to scale further. Maybe even a PoS camp threatens to split given that casper is looking solid now and is a huge threat to PoW dominance. That said, Ethereum is suffering too, but the scaling solution is on the horizon. This is the time for the other coins to shine, maybe even a nice 6 month period, with the argument that the world needs all the chains to REALLY scale and diversify uses cases (Zcash as the prime example, which I suspect will be in the top five market caps by now).
• 8th, Casper finally hits (12 month mark). Ethereum, along with it's associated tokens, dominate 80% of the cryto space, total. Mainstream attention is here now. Casper PoS work well and allows a new level of scaling that's unmatch (although still not quite enough for the year following). Your grandma has heard of Ethereum, but still doesn't get it. Ethereum's public chain is scaling to a degree, but sharding is severely needed. Bitcoin remains locked in its new civil war, with no real solution in sight. RSK is mostly ignored.

This is conservative guess for Ethereum, and generous guess for Bitcoin. I don't see the SEC doing anything serious. They seem to be of the philosophy to watch how it pays out more, and ETH this next 12 months, is too "in development". However, I feel confident what 5 a-d is likely on the money. Basically, if you buy ETH, store it for a year, your going to be a very very happy person. There's going to be a lot of FUD and FOMO over the year. But without question, ETH WILL BE ON TOP by a very large margin. The smart move, as it has been for the last two years, is play this long game. No other blockchain has this level of developer momentum. Not even close. Literally, the Ethereum Foundation, EAA, and several ETH-based ventures now have near-immortalized levels of funding. That WILL pay out fucking huge, even with all the bumps along the way.

Credit to /u/Ethereums_AI for the original post.