Metcalfe's law

American  

[met-kafs law] / ˈmɛt kæfs ˈlɔ /

noun

Telecommunications.

1. the principle that the value of a network is proportional to the square of the number of connected users: the more users there are in a system, the more value an individual perceives, considered against the cost of joining a network community.

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Etymology

Origin of Metcalfe's law

First recorded in 1990-95; named after Robert M. Metcalfe (born 1946), U.S engineer and entrepreneur who helped pioneer the internet in 1970 and invent the Ethernet

Example Sentences

Metcalfe’s Law was first proposed to me six years ago by Claude Erb, a former commodities portfolio manager at TCW Group.

From MarketWatch

To put Metcalfe’s Law into practice, Erb assumed that the number of bitcoins that have been mined equals the number of users.

From MarketWatch

Notwithstanding bitcoin’s latest plunge, its price currently is about $33,000 higher than what the Metcalfe’s Law model says is fair value.

From MarketWatch

So bitcoin’s impressive rise above $100,000 wasn’t a reason to conclude that the Metcalfe’s Law model had become less useful.

From MarketWatch

This can be summed up with Metcalfe's Law, explains Evan Prodromou, co-author and current editor of ActivityPub, another open social media architecture, which is behind popular platforms like Meta's Threads.

From BBC