True but they're not planning for currency-agnostic fees before they move to proof of stake, which will require ether for staking.
It might not be a done deal, either. A few weeks ago Vlad Zamfir, the lead researcher for PoS, tweeted that he thought agnostic fees were a dumb idea, because they'd be too much trouble for miners.
A lot of contracts are easier to write if you assume a single currency. If you're doing that you have to pick one, and ether seems like the obvious choice.
I mostly agree with your last sentence but a high market cap doesn't reduce Ethereum's robustness either; in fact it makes it more secure.
It might not be a done deal, either. A few weeks ago Vlad Zamfir, the lead researcher for PoS, tweeted that he thought agnostic fees were a dumb idea, because they'd be too much trouble for miners.
A lot of contracts are easier to write if you assume a single currency. If you're doing that you have to pick one, and ether seems like the obvious choice.
I mostly agree with your last sentence but a high market cap doesn't reduce Ethereum's robustness either; in fact it makes it more secure.