Ethereum forecast: growth prospects and risks
In August 2025, Ethereum once again updated its all-time high (ATH), almost reaching $5000. Against the backdrop of this price surge, the altcoin's market capitalization also hit record levels, peaking above $583 billion. At the same time, Ethereum's dominance level has grown by 80% since April 2025 — from 7.1% to 13%.
This is an unusual case for Ethereum, since historically August tends to be a month of decline for ETH: over the past 9 years, 6 times August ended with a drop for Ethereum.
Short-term prospects of Ethereum: forecast for the end of 2025
According to Tom Lee, managing partner at Fundstrat Global Advisors, Ethereum's price may reach $5500 within the next few months, and by the end of the year — $10,000–12,000. Among the positive factors for Ethereum's growth, the expert notes the reduction of ETH supply in the market, as well as the growing institutional interest in the cryptocurrency.
One of the signs of increasing institutional interest in the altcoin was the accumulation of nearly 96,000 ETH by BitMine in its reserves. Thanks to this strategic move, BitMine became the holder of the largest Ethereum reserve among public companies.
A more modest Ethereum forecast was presented by Standard Chartered experts: in their view, the altcoin's price by the end of 2025 will only reach $7500. They raised their previous forecast of $4000, noting that the situation with the altcoin has "significantly improved."
Bitget analysts also lean toward a more optimistic Ethereum forecast: according to their estimates, the leading altcoin's price may rise to $6000 by the end of the year if it manages to "break through" resistance at $4800.
However, experts note that Ethereum's dynamics, like other altcoins, will depend on macroeconomic data from U.S. markets, including the Federal Reserve's rate policy: a rate hike may put pressure on the second-largest cryptocurrency.
Other restraining factors for Ethereum growth may include:
- Geopolitical tensions, including the new trade tariff policy of the current U.S. President Donald Trump on imported goods;
- Growing competition with Solana and other key smart contract platforms, which may take a significant market share from Ethereum. From 2024 to 2025, Solana demonstrated much faster growth compared to Ethereum due to the memecoin boom and rapid development, which helped its ecosystem attract more developers.
At the same time, analysts also highlight positive factors that may influence Ethereum's forecast in the near future. One of them is the development of decentralized finance (DeFi), where Ethereum remains a key player, holding almost 59% of the market share by total value locked (TVL), according to DeFi Llama.
In addition, Coinglass data indicates growing institutional interest in Ethereum and capital inflows from large funds. According to StrategicETHReserve, organizations and ETF funds associated with Ethereum control more than 9% of the total ETH supply.
Ethereum forecast for 2026
According to updated, more optimistic estimates from Standard Chartered, the leading altcoin may rise to $12,000 by the end of 2026, although earlier their Ethereum forecast was only $7500.
Jeffrey Kendrick, head of crypto asset research at Standard Chartered, named several key factors that influenced the altcoin's value in the summer and are playing a positive role in Ethereum's medium- to long-term dynamics:
- Growing ETH purchases by public companies;
- Increasing investor interest in Ethereum ETFs;
- A new U.S. law — the GENIUS Act regulating stablecoins — was approved. According to the expert, the adoption of this law may lead to increased network activity on the Ethereum blockchain.
Kendrick also noted that technological improvements to the platform, including the Dencun and Pectra upgrades, have contributed to Ethereum's growth. In 2025, another important update — Fusaka — is expected. Bitget analysts believe that after the updates, ETH has the potential to grow to $12,000, which aligns with Standard Chartered's forecast.
Another growth factor could be Ethereum's integration with traditional systems, which are actively shifting their focus toward stablecoins. According to Jan Van Eck, CEO of VanEck, Ethereum will play the role of the main decentralized platform for banking systems, thanks to the growing integration of stablecoins into the traditional economy. He also called ETH the "Wall Street token."