According to Grayscale research head Zach Pandl, Ethereum is the real gem in the Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana trifecta – here’s why.
Source: Brave New Coin Ethereum Liquid Index
Ethereum has suffered the “middle child syndrome” as investors continued to favour its older sibling (Bitcoin) and its younger sibling (Solana) for the longest time. But the lag in its performance may finally come to an end as Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th President of the United States in January, according to Zach Pandl – the head of research at Grayscale Investments.
In fact, Ether may even emerge as a bigger beneficiary of Trump 2.0 than Bitcoin, he told investors in a recent report. Here’s why
Regularity clarity matters more for ETH
Eric Trump reiterated his father’s commitment to making America the crypto capital of the world in an interview on Monday. A sensible regulatory framework, he’s convinced, could help the US become a crypto superpower in 2025 – and the President-elect has nominated Paul Atkins as the head of Securities & Exchange Commission to do just that.
Atkins is broadly expected to be tasked with infusing more clarity into the set of guidelines that govern the crypto industry. He’s reportedly preparing to create a first-of-its-kind White House position dedicated to crypto policy as well, which may help Ether outperform as its “use cases are more extensive than Bitcoin’s and require clear rules of the road from regulators in order to fulfill its full vision,” says Grayscale’s Pandl.
Regulatory clarity under the Trump administration, he added, could also solidify Ethereum’s credibility as the global settlement layer for finance. Plus, it will enable investors to stake their ETH for yield and breathe new life into Ethereum ETFs that have been all but dormant since their approval in late July.
The Ethereum price is yet to hit a new all time high even though Bitcoin has already surpassed the closely watched $100,000 level. But all that lag really means is: ETH has more room to the upside than Bitcoin in 2025, Pandl concluded.
ETH price prediction: could it hit $15,000 in 2025?
Those looking for an Ethereum price prediction for 2025 in Pandl’s report will be disappointed as he did not offer a clear price target for ETH. Geoff Kendrick of Standard Chartered has not been so reticent, though, and suggests the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap is headed for $14,000+ in 2025.
ETH is trading at about $3,800 at writing following a 65% rally over the past month. So, his price target indicates potential for another 275% upside from current levels by the end of next year.
Source: TradingView
Kendrick also expects Trump’s pro-crypto stance to drive institutional capital into the Ether funds in 2025 making it an even stronger contender for the best crypto to buy now. He finds the proposition of investing in ETH a particularly exciting one following the recent network upgrades aimed at enhancing scalability and lowering transaction costs.
Standard Chartered is confident that the market cap of Ethereum is set to catch up with Bitcoin in the years ahead – even expecting ETH to eventually be worth $35,000 as long as it can continue to scale its throughput dramatically.
Note that a leaked report from Goldman Sachs in 2021 also cited Ethereum’s extensive use cases like smart contracts and decentralized finance (DeFi) as it predicted the possibility of ETH outperforming Bitcoin and dethroning it as the dominant digital store of value.
Ethereum retains its edge over rivals like Solana
Ether has outperformed Bitcoin and money has started to flow into its exchange-traded funds ever since Trump beat Kamala Harris to become the 47th President of the United States.
Source: Coin Glass
Still, skeptics roll their eyes on a bold ETH forecast like that of $35,000 mentioned above. They continue to expect the rising competition particularly from the likes of Solana to erode its market share over the long term.
But Ethereum remains the safer option among blockchain platforms as it has a much longer track record. Its larger and more established network has proven resilient through multiple market cycles and stress tests.
Additionally, ETH’s security model has been battle-tested and showed to be robust. Unlike Solana, its network has never faced a complete outage. That’s why Wall Street firms like JPMorgan and BlackRock are already experimenting with Ethereum for various applications, including asset tokenization, DeFi, and smart contracts.
So, Ethereum is becoming increasingly integrated into the financial sector – and as more institutions switch to this blockchain, the demand for its native token could increase substantially, helping ETH hit the $35,000 level that Standard Chartered is predicting over the next few years.
