Digital currencies have been around us for a long time now, at least long enough for most ordinary people to know a thing or two about them. While everyone knows that Bitcoin is the unofficial leader and the model cryptocurrency everything revolves around in terms of business and predictions, there are thousands of others. Many of them are equally as worthy, perhaps even more, when it comes to investment and trading. However, just like we know that BTC is number one, it is widely familiar that Ethereum is the number 2 crypto.
This has been the case for the better part of the virtual currency craze. BTC was the dominant one leading the way, with ETH following closely behind and doing things similarly but also quite differently. It can be said that they are completely different because BTC is “just” a coin, and ETH is also a platform and a whole system apart from also being a coin. While most predictions focus on Bitcoin when trying to determine how bright the future of cryptos is, every coin deserves such amount of care and coverage. If you are interested in ETH and want to know what the future holds for it, keep on reading this article. In addition, read more to stay in touch with the latest news.
Overview
Before we talk about the future and what it may bring for this crypto, we have to talk about the very crypto itself for a bit. Ethereum is a separate blockchain and an independent currency. It is decentralized of course, no country or authority owns or controls it, and thanks to the blockchain everything is accurate, transparent, and fast. This is where the similarities end with most other coins, Bitcoin included, since ETH offers much more than digital transactions and investment.
Ethereum is also a network on its own, one that offers the users and developers a platform for smart contract technology. The transfers themselves are faster than with BTC and the blockchain is able to handle more of them at once. The network effect is the biggest benefit of ETH and the advantage other coins envy. It is important to distinguish between the terms Ethereum and Ether too, as Ethereum is the whole network and its blockchain technology, while the coin is called Ether (ETH). So the cryptocurrency in question is actually called Ether and not Ethereum.
At the moment, out of the top 100 tokens in circulation, 96% of them are in some way based on Ethereum. An ever bigger stat is that out of the 1,000 best cryptos that now exist, 89% are like it.
Recent History
Source: unsplash.com
Ethereum has been experiencing a lot of success in recent years. In both 2017 and 2018, there was a considerable growth since the network continuously had a lot of projects happening at any given time. The projects had their own coins and investors would send ETH in order to perform them. These Initial Coin Offerings (ICO) were very big a few years ago and Ether was necessary for them. Naturally, the demand was high and the price skyrocketed. Now though, the ICO era is done, and following a rough period at the end of 2018, Ethereum recovered from the historically low $100 per coin.
Fast forward to 2024, two major things pushed the second-most popular crypto even higher. The first is the introduction of Ethereum 2.0, a new algorithm also known as proof-of-stake that replaced the proof-of-work. With this new system in place, less overloads are expected towards the end of the year while the investors will get new coins for old in a 1:1 ratio.
The second novelty is DeFi (decentralized finance). DeFi companies are basically services that give out loans on the Ethereum blockchain, mostly with smart contracts. This is expected to grow considerably in the future as it helps everyone involved in the network.
Price Forecasts
Source: bitcoinsensus.com
As of the writing of this article, one Ether (ETH) coin is priced at $3.185. At the start of 2024, it was only $125, but it grew by almost 500% and reached $729 at the end of the year. This year, in 2024, a single token was $4,380 at one point, and since then it ranged from $1,700 to $2,500. The changes were so volatile that they jumped and fell by as much as $1,000 in a week.
Most forecasts have ETH between $3,500 and $4,500 at the end of 2024, which would be a good thing and an obvious increase based on the current price. When more distant future is concerned, say 2025, some predict that a single Ether coin will be worth $11,170. A lot can happen in four years however, and such predictions should always be taken with a big grain of salt. Instead, we should focus on the year ahead of us, and maybe the one after.
Since it is expanding in the marketplace and more and more investors and designers are utilizing its network benefits, Ethereum can only grow as the time passes. The most daring are now saying that by the end of next year, 2024, it could also be the most widely transacted crypto. Regarding the price, based on the multiple different forecasts and predictions, we can expect ETH to be worth around $6,000 by April of 2024, between $9,000 and $11,000 from June to October, and end the year with as much as $14,000 per coin.
According to these same sources, on average, the year 2024 will be both more and less favorable. By February of 2024 it will continue to grow until it reaches between $18,000 and $20,000, only to slow down and drop by as much as a few thousands per month and end the year at $13,000. A lot of room for smart investments and critical business moves is there, and it will surely be interesting how the market behaves while people adapt. After that, it is anyone’s guess. Some say that in 2025 it will be much of the same like in 2024 and 2024, some think it will be worse and that the prices will go down to around $6,000, and nobody is mentioning 2024. Joking aside, it is going to be a bright next few years for ETH so make sure to jump on board while there is still time!
