Key Takeaways

• Ethereum’s Ether (ETH) is the second biggest crypto in the world, with a market cap of more than $2 billion.
• ETH avoided being listed by the SEC as an unregistered security. 
• Ethereum’s latest upgrade, Cancun-Deneb, should be coming in October.
• One Ethereum price prediction said Ether could break past $12,000 in 2025.
• Technical analysis suggests ETH could fall below $500.

When the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it was suing the Binance and Coinbase crypto exchanges on charges of selling unregistered securities, one of the biggest names not listed in the legal papers was Ethereum’s Ether (ETH) cryptocurrency.

The world’s second largest crypto, ETH has been on a rough ride along with the rest of the market over the last year or so, but seemed to be recovering well from the market shock caused by the SEC’s announcements. 

Later in the summer, the first ever Ethereum-based mobile phone sold out, suggesting people are still interested in the platform. This bodes well for the Cancun-Deneb upgrade, due in October.

But what is Ethereum (ETH)? How does Ethereum work? Let’s take a look and see what we can find out, and also examine some of the Ethereum price predictions that were being made as of 24 July 2023. 

Ethereum Coin Price Prediction

Let’s examine some of the Ethereum price predictions being made on August 25 2023. It is crucial to bear in mind that price forecasts, particularly for a potentially volatile asset like cryptocurrency, often turn out to be inaccurate. Additionally, please remember that many long-term crypto price predictions are generated using algorithms, which means they can change at any time.

First, CoinCodex  had a short-term Ethereum price prediction which said ETH would reach $1,773.27 on August 30, before dipping to $1,762.25 on September 24. The site’s technical analysis was bearish, with 24 indicators sending discouraging signs and just six making bullish ones. 

Ethereum Price Prediction for 2023

CaptainAltCoin  said ETH would climb to $1,762.68 by December year. LongForecast  was more pessimistic, saying the coin would drop to close the year at $1,598. DigitalCoinPrice  said Ethereum would leave its current woes behind it to trade at $3,532.72 in 2023.

Ethereum Price Prediction for 2025

Moving on, LongForecast was still gloomy, saying ETH would sink to $924 in May 2025. CaptainAltCoin was far more positive, suggesting Ether could reach $12,707 that year. DigitalCoinPrice said Ethereum would trade at $5,360.79 in two years time.

Ethereum Price Prediction for 2030

Looking at a more long-term Ethereum price prediction, CoinPriceForecast  argued it would reach $4,092 at the end of 2030. DigitalCoinPrice claimed it would stand at $16,963, while CaptainAltCoin was yet more positive, with a forecast of $31,769. 

Recent Updates from Ethereum

The presale for the EthOS  phone happened in August and saw the device sell-out. This news came not long after Ethereum  celebrated an important record. On 21 July, blockchain analytics organisation IntoTheBlock found  there was $52.3 billion worth of ETH staked on the platform. This was the highest level since Ethereum moved to a Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism in September last year.

The revelation  that 1,700 ETH, worth about $3 million, had been stolen in a hack of the Conic Finance protocol did temper the good news, however.

Ethereum Price Analysis

From its all-time high of almost $5,000, made in mid-November 2021, the price of Ethereum fell until June 18 last year. It dropped to about $920, marking a decrease of more than 80%. This downfall lasted around 200 days and could have marked the end of a bear cycle.

Since then, we have seen a recovery, with the price reaching about $2,100 in April 2023, an increase of nearly 135% from its June 2022 low.

A recent recovery saw it reach about $2,030, less than the high in April. If Ethereum is going to be in an uptrend, it needs to reach $2,100.

If we look at where the price has been recently, we can see that it has managed to break away from the sorts of levels it dropped to in June last year. 

The overall shape of the chart suggests that we are still in an Ethereum bear cycle.

There is a similarity between ETH’s recent behavior and how it acted between April and July 2018. This suggests that, should the coin continue to drop, there could be further lows ahead.

Ethereum could end up as low as $430, its lowest price since late 2020. If it gets there, it would be in what is called an accumulation zone. This is a prolonged period of stagnation. Once that passes, we could see a rise. The good news here is that this upturn could be long-lasting and sustainable.

ETH Price History

The Ethereum price history  is pretty long, but let’s take a look at some of the highlights and lowlights. Remember, though, that past performance is no indicator of future results. That said, knowing what ETH has done in the past can help give us some context if we want to either make or interpret an Ethereum Price Prediction.

When ETH first came onto the open market in 2015, it was worth about $2.77. It broke past $10 the following year, only for a hack to drop it back down by the end of the year. In 2017, it crossed over $100 and early on in 2018 a crypto bubble saw it spend some time above $1,000 before it dropped back down to spend the so-called crypto winter of the following three years or so hovering around the $300 mark. 

ETH woke up in early 2021 as the market exploded and it reached just under $4,000 in May. It went down over the summer but, in August, the market picked back up. With non-fungible tokens (NFTs) the buzzword of the day, the success of the, usually Ethereum-based, rights to links to images of digital art helped bolster the price over the next few months. When Bitcoin (BTC) reached record levels in early November, ETH followed suit, trading at an all-time high of $4,891.70 on November 16. 

In 2022, though, things started to go badly wrong for the entire world of crypto. Not even the successful completion of The Merge could mitigate an overall gloomy economic climate and a series of market crashes, with Ether getting perilously close to dropping below $1,000 at various points in the year. 

Ethereum in 2023

So far, 2023 has seen some recovery, with the coin breaking past $2,000 for the first time in nearly a year in April. After that, though, the events of early June saw it drop down to a low of $1,624.14 on June 15. There was a market recovery and, on July 14, following the ruling that Ripple’s XRP was not a security if it was being sold on exchanges, it reached a peak of $2,026.20

Since then, though, it has dropped down and, on August 25 2023, it was worth about $1,655. 

At that time, the crypto’s entire supply of about 120.2 million was in circulation, giving it a market cap of $198.8 billion and leaving it as the second-largest crypto, behind Bitcoin. 

Recent Updates from Ethereum

The presale for the EthOS  phone happened in August and saw the device sell-out. This news came not long after Ethereum  celebrated an important record. On 21 July, blockchain analytics organisation IntoTheBlock found  there was $52.3 billion worth of ETH staked on the platform. This was the highest level since Ethereum moved to a Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism in September last year.

The revelation  that 1,700 ETH, worth about $3 million, had been stolen in a hack of the Conic Finance protocol did temper the good news, however.

Is Ethereum a Good Investment?

It is hard to say, although it could be argued that the signs look good. It has recovered relatively well from the news that SEC was suing Binance and Coinbase.  Not only that, but it is moving forward with a new upgrade. 

That said, some caution is always advised. Remember that The Merge, which was to take Ethereum to a whole new level, was something of a damp squib, pricewise. Also, cryptos have a reputation for being very volatile so ETH could drop at any time.

On the other hand, the news that more ETH was being staked than ever before suggests that, in technical terms, The Merge has been well-received.

You must do your own research on Ethereum before you make a decision. 

Will Ethereum go up or down?

No one can really say for sure. While a lot of forecasts are optimistic, price predictions are very often wrong. Remember, too, that prices can, and do, go down as well as up. 

Should I invest in Ethereum?

This is a question you will have to answer yourself. Before you do so, you will have to do your own research, not only on ETH but on other cryptos, such as Bitcoin. It is also vital that you never invest more money than you can afford to lose. 

From the Whitepaper

In its technical documentation, or whitepaper , Ethereum says it is designed to take blockchain to a new level. 

It says that it wants to use blockchain technology to do more than just support cryptocurrency.

It explains: “What Ethereum intends to provide is a blockchain with a built-in fully fledged Turing-complete programming language that can be used to create “contracts”.”

Ethereum (ETH) Explained

A team of developers, led by the Russian-born and Canadian-based computer wizzkid Vitalik Buterin, founded Ethereum  in 2013. Up to that point, blockchains had basically suppoted cryptocurrencies, but there was the idea that they could be used for things other than money. In 2015, it came out and allowed people to create their own decentralized applications (DApps).

Ethereum, which has gone through a variety of hard forks, processes where a new form of the blockchain is created, making all valid transactions invalid and vice versa, has its own native coin. This coin is, technically speaking, called Ether, but most people call it Ethereum, regardless. This crypto, known by its ticker handle ETH, pays for transactions on the blockchain. People can buy, sell and trade it on exchanges. Holders can stake it, or set it aside, in order to add blocks to the blockchains. 

How Ethereum Works

For a long time, the Ethereum blockchain used a Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus mechanism, which meant that people solved increasingly complex equations to add blocks to the blockchain, earning rewards for doing so. However, there were two major problems with that. Firstly, it had a negative impact on the environment.The blockchain was responsible for upwards of 90 terawatt hours (TWh) of energy per year, according to data from the Ethereum Energy Consumption Index . To put that into context , Ethereum used more energy than the entire nation of Kazakhstan. 

Secondly, the Ethereum blockchain could get very slow and very crowded. This meant that transactions took longer, which cost people more money, and it also meant that there was a proliferation of layer 2 scaling solutions. These were platforms linked to the Ethereum blockchain with the aim of taking transactions off the blockchain, carrying them out, and then putting them back on, thus, theoretically, saving time and money. 

In 2020, it was decided that Ethereum would move to a new consensus mechanism. A form of Proof-of-Stake (PoS), it now meant that people who held ETH were able to add blocks to the blockchain based on how much ETH they held. The final move to PoS, dubbed The Merge , was completed on 15 September 2022. 

 

FAQs 

How many Ethereum are there?

As of 24 July 2023, there were about 120.2 million ETH in circulation, representing the coin’s total supply. 

Can Ethereum reach $10,000?

It might do. CaptainAltCoin says it could happen as soon as 2025, while DigitalCoinPrice says it should break through that mark in 2029. However, price forecasts are very often wrong, so you should exercise caution.

Remember, too, that ETH’s highest ever price, which it reached in November 2021, is $4,891.70.

What is the biggest difference between Bitcoin and Ethereum?

Bitcoin’s blockchain purely to supports Bitcoin but Ethereum hosts decentralized applications (DApps) and other programs. 

Disclaimer 

Please note that the contents of this article are not financial or investing advice. The information provided in this article is the author’s opinion only and should not be considered as offering trading or investing recommendations. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, reliability and accuracy of this information. The cryptocurrency market suffers from high volatility and occasional arbitrary movements. Any investor, trader, or regular crypto users should research multiple viewpoints and be familiar with all local regulations before committing to an investment.