Key Takeaways
- JPMorgan analysts warned Ethereum could continue underperforming Bitcoin unless the network delivers stronger activity, DeFi growth and real-world adoption.
- Motley Fool analyst Dominic Basulto predicted Ethereum could reach $5,000 by 2030.
- Bitmine Chairman Tom Lee remains highly bullish.
Ethereum’s price may still have a path toward reclaiming its all-time highs, but senior JPMorgan analysts have raised questions over whether it can regain momentum against Bitcoin without major improvements to its network activity.
The comments came as Dominic Basulto, an analyst at The Motley Fool, argued in a separate report that Ethereum could still climb to $5,000 by 2030, despite slower growth expectations and mounting competition across the crypto sector.
Ethereum Is a Mature Tech Firm
Basulto said Ethereum may increasingly need to be valued like a mature software company rather than a hyper-growth crypto asset.
He suggested investors should temper expectations after the token’s explosive gains over the past decade.
“I’m predicting that Ethereum will hit a price of $5,000 by 2030, and here’s why,” Basulto wrote in a recent report.
According to Basulto, Ethereum delivered a compound annual growth rate of nearly 22% between April 2017 and March 2026.
This pace, he explained, aligns more closely with that of established large-cap software firms than with early-stage technology startups.
He argued that Ethereum, now more than a decade old, is likely to have moved beyond its highest-growth phase.
Instead of the major rallies such as the 472% surge seen in 2020, Basulto said a steadier annual growth rate of roughly 20% could still be enough to push Ethereum back toward record levels.
Ethereum previously reached an all-time high near $4,954 during the 2021 crypto bull market.
He added that expectations surrounding asset tokenization and AI have yet to produce the kind of adoption wave many investors anticipated.
JPMorgan Warns Ethereum Still Trailing Bitcoin
The muted prediction comes amid a cautious tone from JPMorgan analysts led by managing director Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou.
The analysts said the underperformance trend that began in 2023 is unlikely to reverse without “meaningful improvements” in Ethereum’s network activity.
According to the report, institutional demand has recovered far more aggressively for Bitcoin than for Ethereum.
JPMorgan pointed to spot exchange-traded fund flows, noting that Bitcoin ETFs have regained roughly two-thirds of prior outflows following the market selloff.
The firm’s analysts questioned whether Ethereum’s upcoming network upgrades would be enough to change the trend.
While planned upgrades are expected to improve scalability, the analysts said previous upgrades over the last several years failed to significantly boost network activity.
Instead, they argued that lower Layer-2 transaction fees reduced fee generation on the Ethereum base layer.
The analysts added that the broader altcoin market has also struggled due to weak liquidity.
Bullish Ethereum Price Predictions Remain
Not everyone is cautious.
Bitmine Chairman Tom Lee has consistently pushed bullish narratives around Ethereum’s long-term price.
Lee said ETH could eventually surge to $62,000 if the blockchain becomes the dominant infrastructure layer for tokenized finance and AI-driven commerce.
“Crypto Spring has commenced,” Lee said in a monthly chairman’s message earlier this week.
“There’s never been a crypto winter where Ethereum has closed up three consecutive months in a row,” he said, adding that a monthly close above $2,100 in May would represent a historically bullish signal for the sector.
At the time of reporting, Ethereum was trading at around $2,265.
The veteran market strategist also described Ethereum as “the best performing asset since the start of the Iran war.”
Lee reiterated several aggressive long-term price scenarios tied to Bitcoin’s future gains,
“If Bitcoin gets to $250,000, which we think is fair value in the next 12 months, and Ethereum gets to its eight-year average of the price ratio, that’s $12,000 Ethereum,” Lee said.
He added that a return to Ethereum’s relative valuation levels seen during the 2021 crypto rally could imply prices closer to $22,000.
Lee’s most ambitious target, however, depends on Ethereum becoming a foundational layer for global financial infrastructure.
“If it becomes the payment rails of the future,” he said, “that’s $62,000 Ethereum.”
Key Ethereum Price Levels
Analysts have remained focused on whether Ethereum can hold critical technical support levels amid broader uncertainty.
Abiodun Oladokun, an analyst at CCN, said Ethereum is currently trading just above a key support zone that has repeatedly absorbed selling pressure since mid-April.
“ETH is trading at $2,271, hovering above the critical support level at $2,234,” Oladokun said.
“This support floor level has absorbed significant sell-side pressure since April 13 and now serves as the final line of defense before the bears regain full control of the trend.”
Oladokun warned that failure to maintain support at $2,234 could trigger a deeper correction toward lower price levels.
“If buyers fail to defend the $2,234 floor, ETH could slide toward $2,044, the next major support,” he said.
Adding: “A decisive breakdown below that level opens the door to $1,934 and, in a deeper flush, the $1,828 zone.”
However, Oladokun said renewed buying demand could quickly shift market sentiment.
Kurt Robson is a London-based reporter at CCN, specialising in the fast-moving worlds of crypto and emerging technology. He began his career covering local news in Cornwall after graduating from Falmouth University with First Class Honours in Journalism. There, he cut his teeth on everything from council meetings to missing swans.
He quickly rose through the ranks to become a frontline journalist at several of the UK’s leading national newspapers. Over the years, he has interviewed musicians and celebrities, reported from courtrooms and crime scenes, and secured multiple front-page exclusives.
Following the upheaval of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kurt shifted his focus to technology journalism—just ahead of the AI boom. With a natural curiosity and a trained eye for emerging trends, he has found a new rhythm in reporting on innovation.
At CCN, Kurt's work focuses on the cutting edge of crypto, blockchain, AI, and the evolving digital world. Drawing on his background in people-first reporting and his deep interest in disruptive tech, Kurt delivers stories that are insightful, entertaining, and human-centric.
