Ethereum’s dominance in DeFi may face challenges from emerging public blockchains like Solana, Avalanche, and Aptos. These rivals offer faster transaction speeds, lower costs, and scalability—key advantages over Ethereum’s high gas fees and congestion. Solana, for instance, processes thousands of transactions per second, compared to Ethereum’s ~15-30. However, Ethereum’s entrenched ecosystem, vast developer community, and ongoing upgrades (e.g., sharding) bolster its position. While newcomers attract DeFi projects with incentives, Ethereum’s network effects and security track record remain formidable. Its monopoly might weaken, but a complete shake-up is unlikely soon.