Like Bitcoin, Ethereum’s prevalence and value has been bolstered by its longevity.
In particular, in terms of actual utility — Ethereum was one of the first to make application development on blockchain feasible via smart contracts. That made it the first big network for practical uses of blockchain like building decentralised finance (DeFi) apps, minting non-fungible tokens (NFTs), or running a decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO).
In recent years, more advanced and reliable (and less technically complex) challengers have risen up — like Solana, TON, Cardano – that threaten to overtake Ethereum in popularity. Still, it remains a leading chain in terms of users and applications.
But what does this mean for the price? Ether ($ETH) is the second-largest cryptocurrency globally with a market capitalisation of over US$318 billion. As of May 2025, one ETH was valued at just over US$2,600. That’s a significant decline from where it ended 2024, at around US$4K.
Signs of recovery are visible for the second half of 2025 — especially if Bitcoin rallies further. And over the next five years, some believe a continued surge in ETH’s price is inevitable.
Let’s explore the factors that could see Ethereum’s price rise and what the outlook to 2030 looks like.
Will Ethereum’s price increase to $4,000 soon?
In early 2025 Ether’s price was falling, and it spent most of April below US$2,000. But there was a considerable jump in ETH’s price in early May, which saw it surpass the $2K mark and reach as high as $2,700.
The price recovery was largely attributed to:
- An increase in institutional inflows into crypto investment products, with year-to-date inflows hitting a new record of US$10.8B according to a report from CoinShares. While products holding BTC have led the pack, over $300 million flowed into spot Ethereum ETFs in the week ending 26 May alone.
- Ethereum’s total locked value (TVL) in DeFi apps lifted by around 25% in May, rising to over US$62B. TVL is still down from where in sat in January (US$66B) but remains robust ahead of its nearest competitors Solana (US$8.99B) and Tron (US$6.72B).
- The Pectra upgrade, successfully implemented in early May. The upgrade focused on improving the network’s scalability and usability, which may have helped boost investor confidence that the network can evolve and beat its up-and-coming peers.
Whales were more likely to be buying than ordinary retail investors. It remains to be seen whether the latest uptick is simply people stocking up on ETH while it’s less expensive, or indicative of a bullish trend for ETH’s value.
The token’s all-time high is US$4,891.70, reached in late 2021.
A number of analysts predict ETH will breakout to over US$3,500-$4,000 in the short-term based on its current momentum, and because it could ‘mirror’ BTC gains — given Bitcoin’s price is back above US$100K and potentially set to rally further.
Bullish sentiment sees Ethereum poised to co-lead a market bull run, or lead an altcoin season starting sometime in the second half of 2025 once Bitcoin dominance drops.
A report released on May 30, 2025 by Glassnode and CME finds Ethereum is underperforming in the current cycle compared with previous cycles — and notes the lack of a fresh all-time high so far in this cycle, unlike Bitcoin and Solana.
“Ether’s downside price action has also been notably more volatile, with multiple -40% contractions from the local high, and with the most recent drawdown in 2025 being the worst of the cycle thus far,” the report states.
Source: ‘CME x Glassnode: ETH Market Trends Report’
Is the price of ETH on a path to hit $10,000?
Some analysts have forecast the price of ETH could conceivably rise to US$10K in the current cycle or within the next 2-5 years.
A Finder survey of 25 crypto industry specialists in April 2025 found:
- The average year-end prediction for Ethereum’s price was US$4,153.
- ETH’s price will reach US$9,495 by 2030.
Josh Fraser, cofounder of Origin Protocol, said: “As ETH supply continues to deflate post-merge and major ETFs (exchange-traded funds) unlock institutional inflows, a surge past $10K this year is within reach.” Fraser thinks sustained growth in the price of ETH to $30K+ is plausible long-term as the network “captures a growing share of global value transfer and decentralised infrastructure.”
While price action isn’t primarily influenced by technical superiority — ETH’s appeal could wane if other chains can lure more developers and DeFi apps. A number of layer 1s boast better speed, scalability and costs. Solana’s incredible rise since 2020 shows how quickly an alternative solution can attract investor attention.
Ethereum co-founder and CEO of Consensys, Joseph Lubin, wrote in May that Ethereum was the answer to the growing need for a restructuring of the financial system, which he argues is volatile, inefficient and losing trust. “This is the protocol moment that our financial system needs. What the internet did for information, Ethereum does for value.”
Lubin cites over a dozen successful major upgrades since Ethereum’s launch around 10 years ago: “The result is a platform that, while still evolving, has proven technically resilient and thus increasingly credible to institutions.”
But improvements to the underlying technology — which drives adoption— doesn’t always help the price.
Source: ‘The State of Crypto’ report DWS X Galaxy
DWS’ State of Crypto Report released May 2025, describes how Ethereum’s tools and costs for developers have improved: layer 2 protocols built on Ethereum are “now handling more user activity and are generating 25% of Ethereum’s layer 1 revenues,” since the Dencun upgrade in 2024.
Unfortunately, more layer 2 transactions have reduced fees paid in ETH, which “has directly impacted ETH’s price performance” and caused staking yields to fall.
Should you be investing in $ETH now?
Former CEO of the BitMEX crypto exchange Arthur Hayes told Bankless in May that ETH’s recent price increase came about because “everyone thought it was dead.” “The most hated coin or most hated asset goes up the fastest in the next cycle, just human nature.”
Everything old becomes new again, in Hayes’ view.
It seems particularly salient that increased institutional investment into Bitcoin and Ethereum of late coincides with heightened uncertainty about global growth and the US economy’s resilience. Even as large investors look to diversify portfolios away from traditional assets, it seems they’re drawn to more stable, proven digital assets.
But tenure and ongoing efforts to improve its blockchain may not be enough to keep Ethereum at the top (in terms of developer activity or market share), and no one fully understands which chains and coins will emerge victorious over the longer-term.
