Ethereum's Future: $4K or $10K? Experts Share Bold 2025 Forecasts

"VANC plants its flag above $6,000 at the cycle's top. A December 2024 note from the firm states that Ethereum macro and micro catalysts are set to converge in a solid year for Ethereum."

"The highest marquee number for ETH in 2025, though comes from Arc Invest, which pegs a trillion dollar market cap scenario, roughly $8,000 per ETH..."

"Speaking on Bankless back in May, he called Ethereum quote the most hated L1. Precisely why he argues it's primed for a reflexive rip towards $5,000 once sentiment flips."

"He sketches a reflexive road map. Crack the old all-time high, ignite momentum traders, and a flywheel effect could spin ETH over $10,000 if liquidity conditions permit."

"Late last year, Standard Chartered's digital assets desk made headlines with a chestthumping $10,000 ETH call..."

"The 2025 target was cut by 60% to $4,000, a level that pales next to their own BTC forecast of $150,000 plus."

"If rollups grow generously and funnel more sequencer profit back to the Ethereum base layer, the model lifts its ETH target to $5,400."

"Back in December 2024, Bitwise's research team grabbed headlines with a flashy $7,000 ETH target in its 10 crypto predictions for 2025 deck."

"Just a couple of weeks ago, Bitwise head of research Ryan Rasmmerson told the Milk Road podcast that the firm's ETH call was cut 35% to $4,500 below ETH's 2021 peak and $2,500 below the original forecast."

"It still argues that returning to the $4,500 level is perfectly achievable even in a muddled macro tape."

"If Converge style enclaves and alt EVM rails siphon off more capital, there may be no obvious catalyst to revise mainet burn or staking yield, let alone ETH's price. Stack that reality against the official forecasts we've heard, and the picture isn't so pretty for the more optimistic ones. Arc Invest's target of $8,000 relied on very strong spot ETF inflows and major DeFi growth to match."

"Meanwhile, VanX $6,000 target relied on Ethereum's revenue shooting up, hoping for Blobspace revenue to reach $1 billion. All things we don't seem all that likely to see."

"If the likes of Converge flourish and Ethereum's ecosystems woes persist, Standard Charted's $4,000 might already be the generous case."

"Arthur Hayes's bullish thesis perhaps seems more reasonable. Relying far more on the changing state of market liquidity, reflexive price action and market psychology, Hayes's framing for a $5,000 ETH target seems more attainable."

"Considering this, something between the prediction from Standard Charted and Arthur Hayes seems like a balanced take."

"VANC plants its flag above $6,000 at the cycle's top."

"Arc Invest, which pegs a trillion dollar market cap scenario, roughly $8,000 per ETH"

"he called Ethereum quote the most hated L1. Precisely why he argues it's primed for a reflexive rip towards $5,000 once sentiment flips."

"a flywheel effect could spin ETH over $10,000 if liquidity conditions permit."

"Late last year, Standard Chartered's digital assets desk made headlines with a chestthumping $10,000 ETH call"

"The 2025 target was cut by 60% to $4,000"

"If rollups grow generously and funnel more sequencer profit back to the Ethereum base layer, the model lifts its ETH target to $5,400."

"Back in December 2024, Bitwise's research team grabbed headlines with a flashy $7,000 ETH target in its 10 crypto predictions for 2025 deck."

"a couple of weeks ago, Bitwise head of research Ryan Rasmmerson told the Milk Road podcast that the firm's ETH call was cut 35% to $4,500"

"Arthur Hayes's framing for a $5,000 ETH target seems more attainable."

"something between the prediction from Standard Charted and Arthur Hayes seems like a balanced take."

"Hayes also considers the PETRA upgrade, which shipped in May of this year, to be a step forward for Ethereum."

"competitive pressure, meanwhile, compounds the maths. Standard Chartered also highlighted Salana's RWA push, a partnership with enterprise blockchain firm R3 that brings HSBC, Bank of America, and Euroclear onto Salana's rails. Tron is also named a threat after it posted 760 million in fees for Q1, eclipsing Ethereum for the first time."

"institutions and high-grade RWAS no longer need Ethereum's fee profile or its cultural heft. Due to the unbundling of blockchains and modular structures, anyone can spin up their own ecosystem."

"base layer revenue at 30% of what it was a year prior."

"hopes for Blobspace revenue to reach $1 billion."

"a prolonged bleed in economics could pin ETH under previous all-time highs, comfortably above cycle lows, yet still a shadow of BTC's run."

"institutional bulls still see $150,000 plus for digital gold this year."

"Bitcoin tops around $180,000"

"Standard Chartered's digital assets desk made headlines with a chestthumping $10,000 ETH call, right in line with Hayes's longerterm view and the sort of round number optimism you expect when a new bull run is rumbling. 3 months later, the same team released a far more somber note bluntly titled, quote, Ethereum midlife crisis and swung the axe to their previous projections. The 2025 target was cut by 60% to $4,000, a level that pales next to their own BTC forecast of $150,000 plus."

"Bitwise is also concerned about Ethereum's fee revenue taking a massive hit. With mainet currently earning roughly $2 million per day, it would need to raise that by three times just to get back to 2024 levels. Now, the bearishleaning reasoning goes on, but Bitwise stops short of a doom and gloom stance. It still argues that returning to the $4,500 level is perfectly achievable even in a muddled macro tape. However, these underall-time high price targets cast a long shadow over the bullish narrative we heard from the more optimistic crowd. But such a blunt evaluation of ETH struggles begs the question, what about the outright bearish scenario for ETH? Well, ETH has historically enjoyed a blue chip status that largely rested on a simple idea. If banks, fund managers, and governments ever engage with crypto and settle on public rails, they will default to the network with the strongest security and deepest liquidity. However, an increasing number of analysts in the space argue that this cycle has simply nullified this thesis. In March, RWA tokenization giant Securitize with a reported $4 billion plus on chain teamed up with CDI project Athena Labs and unveiled an EVM compatible L1 built specifically for institutions. Converge promises to be quote the settlement layer for traditional finance and digital dollars. A pretty direct positioning to compete with Ethereum's traditional value proposition. Converge promises sub 100 millisecond blocks KYC gated smart contracts and native gas paid in Athena's own stable coins all while keeping every penny of fees and me inside its walled garden. Its road map pitches a converge validator network backed by staked ENA so that governance, economics, and security stay inhouse rather than bleeding to Ethereum miners or stakers. If the biggest RWA services can spin up their own high throughput chains in weeks, well, the value proposition of paying L1 gas on mainet starts to look like a luxury tax. And this shift is also happening outside of the EVM environment. As mentioned earlier, R3 stewards of more than $10 billion in tokenized assets for clients including HSBC and Bank of America announced in May that its permission platform will bridge directly to Salana. VANC has itself spun up VIL, a multi-chain tokenized US treasury fund. Meanwhile, tokenized stocks from RWA firm backed just went live on both Kraken and Bybit as these sexes continue expanding their platforms. Though I will note these tokenized RWAS are also on Salana. In addition to that, trading platform giant Robin Hood officially launched a slew of crypto ventures including tokenized stocks and its own L2. The firm stated, quote, "In the future, tokenized stocks will be facilitated by our very own Robin Hood layer 2 blockchain based on Arbitum." Now, this is a non-exhaustive list of examples, but the message is clear. Institutions and high-grade RWAS no longer need Ethereum's fee profile or its cultural heft. Due to the unbundling of blockchains and modular structures, anyone can spin up their own ecosystem. As we've looked at in this video, these shifts come just as Ethereum's own cash engine is sputtering with base layer revenue at 30% of what it was a year prior. L2 activity is booming, but the pay rent upstairs not downstairs model means Ethereum's L1 sees only crumbs of that growth. If Converge style enclaves and alt EVM rails siphon off more capital, there may be no obvious catalyst to revise mainet burn or staking yield, let alone ETH's price. Stack that reality against the official forecasts we've heard, and the picture isn't so pretty for the more optimistic ones. Arc Invest's target of $8,000 relied on very strong spot ETF inflows and major DeFi growth to match. Meanwhile, VanX $6,000 target relied on Ethereum's revenue shooting up, hoping for Blobspace revenue to reach $1 billion. All things we don't seem all that likely to see. If the likes of Converge flourish and Ethereum's ecosystems woes persist, Standard Charted's $4,000 might already be the generous case. A prolonged bleed in economics could pin ETH under previous all-time highs, comfortably above cycle lows, yet still a shadow of BTC's run. From a different perspective than onchain metrics, Arthur Hayes's bullish thesis perhaps seems more reasonable. Relying far more on the changing state of market liquidity, reflexive price action and market psychology, Hayes's framing for a $5,000 ETH target seems more attainable. Considering this, something between the prediction from Standard Charted and Arthur Hayes seems like a balanced take. optimistic for some upside, but that upside does hinge on market factors beyond the control of Ethereum devs. This run has been Bitcoin ccentric. BTC soaked up institutional mind share as digital gold while Ethereum became a utility backbone whose own coin captures less and less of the value it enables. However, this is crypto and logic goes out of the window when riskon sentiment takes over. But what do you folks think? Has the criticism of Ethereum this cycle gone too far? Is it gearing up for a most hated rally as per Hayes's vision? Let us know in the comments below. All right, if you enjoyed diving into ETH's price predictions today, then do yourself and us a favor. Hit that subscribe button and tap that bell so you can keep up to date with everything happening in the world of crypto. That's me for today, folks. But thank you all for watching and I'll see you next time."

"Bitwise trimmed its sole target as well, while leaving its $200,000 BTC view untouched."

"US regulators giving the go-ahead for Salana spot ETFs to incorporate staking at launch. The ETH equivalent is therefore expected sooner rather than later."

"In the future, tokenized stocks will be facilitated by our very own Robin Hood layer 2 blockchain based on Arbitum."

"Hayes has pointed to a likely Fed balance sheet expansion, Treasury buybacks, and a China stimulus volley as the Tinder that could spark off all risk assets."

"RWA tokenization giant Securitize with a reported $4 billion plus on chain teamed up with CDI project Athena Labs and unveiled an EVM compatible L1 built specifically for institutions. Converge promises to be quote the settlement layer for traditional finance and digital dollars."

"R3 stewards of more than $10 billion in tokenized assets for clients including HSBC and Bank of America announced in May that its permission platform will bridge directly to Salana."

"Meanwhile, tokenized stocks from RWA firm backed just went live on both Kraken and Bybit as these sexes continue expanding their platforms. Though I will note these tokenized RWAS are also on Salana."