Ethereum is probably the most widely adopted blockchain as it hosts many decentralized applications and layer-2 protocols. It is also the most capital-heavy blockchain based on its infrastructure and superstructure as well as the upgrades it has already carried out.
As an example, the Merge launched on 15 September 2022 is considered the greatest event in the history of the blockchain after the launch of Satoshi Nakamoto’s Bitcoin Genesis Block in 2009. As a fact, the Merge was the Ethereum blockchain hard fork that shifted the blockchain from the proof-of-work consensus mechanism to the proof-of-stake one.
Already, another historic upgrade, the Shanghai update, is likely to come in March 2023. Its successful launch will increase the blockchain scalability and speed as well as lowering its transaction fee.
The proof-of-stake consensus mechanism helps to reduce the network’s energy consumption by about 99.9%. As such, it brings to an end the problem of carbon emissions which had been attracting criticism from environmentalists for a long time.
The ETH price did not rise as anticipated after the Merge as a result of the harsh macroeconomic environment in many countries such as the United States.
Now, many analysts believe that the Ethereum future price is likely to rise after the Shanghai upgrade which will solve the problem of transaction cost the blockchain is currently experiencing.
ETH’s historical price
Everything being equal, analysts have given positive ethereum projections for 2023. The Ethereum team, led by Vitalik Buterin, launched the blockchain in 2015, two years after they published its whitepaper.
The price of ETH was less than $1.00 in 2015, although many realized its potential. After breaking the $1.00 level in the first week of January 2016, its price increased gradually. Its value rose to $2.00 in February before it reached $12.00 in July of the same year. However, from that time the price decreased constantly until it closed the year at $8.00.
The ETH upward trend continued in 2017 as it attained a price of $48 in the period between April and June before rising to $826.00 in December. Finally, it closed the year at $772.00.
Although ETH started strongly in 2018, the price fell significantly during the year. It reached an all-time high of $1,396 on 12 January. However, for the rest of the year, the price gradually decreased to close at $141.00.
The period from 2019 to 2020 was relatively calm with the price fluctuating between $150 and $730. However, things changed significantly in 2021 due to the growth of the NFT market.
The rise in demand for NFTs resulted in the increase of the price of ETH from $720 at the end of 2020 to $4,000 by May 2021. Notably, ETH attained a new all-time high of $4,815 on 9 November 2021. The following diagram shows the price of ETH from 2015 to 2022.
The above diagram shows that ETH attained its all-time high in 2021. After that, the price had a downward spiral.
Factors affecting the Ethereum prediction
Despite the current bearish pattern in the crypto market, experts anticipate positive Ethereum future prices. There are several factors that may create bullish momentum in 2023.
Recovery from the 2022 crypto scandals
Current ETH price predictions are positive because many people anticipate the year 2023 to be better than 2022. In a real sense, 2022 had many bad experiences for the crypto sector. Several cryptocurrencies which include TerraUSD, LUNA, and FTT collapsed during the year. The recent closure of the FTX exchange created panic and fear in the crypto market.
The total crypto market capitalization fell from over $2 trillion dollars to less than $1 trillion in 2022. At the moment, the market expects the trend to turn around for the better to create confidence among the users. For that reason, analysts expect the Ethereum price in 2023 and beyond to rise.
A positive change in economic factors
In 2022 the United States adopted a tight monetary policy aimed at containing rising inflation. To slow down inflation it increased the interest rate more than five times during the year. This reduced liquidity and buying power in the market.
On the contrary, investors expect that central banks will loosen their monetary policies in 2023 which will increase the disposable income of the consumers. Once the buying power rises, the users will be able to purchase cryptocurrencies such as ETH. That is likely to increase its demand, pushing its price up.
Whale activity
Whales often buy and hold ETH and Bitcoin which increases their demand. Sadly, there was a decrease in the accumulation of ETH in 2022 due to the drop in consumer buying power in the United States and many other countries. However, if whales start to accumulate ethereum in 2023, the ETH price will rise.
Increase in adoption of NFTs
The liquidity crunch of 2022 reduced the demand for NFTs. However, analysts expect a greater adoption of NFTs in 2023 than in 2022. That will increase the demand for ETH since most NFT marketplaces use it as a gas fee.
Expansion of GameFi
In a similar way, there is likely to be an expansion of the gaming sector. Considering that most GameFi applications exist on the Ethereum blockchain, the demand for ETH is likely to increase in 2023.
Media coverage
In recent years, including 2022, the electronic media has been extensively covering news and developments in the crypto sector. That increased awareness of the different cryptocurrencies. As such, ETH is the second largest cryptocurrency based on market capitalization has been receiving wide reviews. If the media coverage increases in 2023 the price of ETH may rise as predicted.
Ethereum upgrades
The successful launch of the London Hard fork on 15 September 2022 shifted the network from the proof-of-work consensus mechanism to the proof-of-stake one. Apart from the news coverage arising from that, the people who previously opposed Ethereum because of its carbon emission now support it.
There is likely to be another important Ethereum upgrade in March 2023 which will increase its transaction speed as well as lowering the gas fee. If that takes place the demand for ETH is likely to increase resulting in higher prices. This is because the current high transaction fee is inhibiting the greater adoption of ETH.
Layer-2 blockchain expansion
Another factor that affects Ethereum price prediction 2023 is the increase in activities of layer-2 blockchains built on the Ethereum network. The expansion of the layer-2 networks will lead to a possible rise in the number of user-friendly applications on the Ethereum blockchain. The number of nonfinancial applications including social media, gaming and metaverse ones is likely to increase. This should lead to a rise in the demand for ETH resulting in a possible upward price movement.
Ethereum price prediction 2023
Most ETH price predictions for 2023 show a possibility of a steady rise in the price of ETH in 2023 and beyond. For example, Coinpriceprediction predicts that the price of ETH will rise to $1,521 in the first quarter of 2023. There will be a further 54% increase during the remainder of the year. As a result, the value of ETH will go up to $1,977.
Digital Coin Price predicts that the value of Ethereum will rise to $2671.45 in 2023 and above $3,000 in 2024 which investors can invest in the crypto exchange like Gate.io before. According to Bination, the Ethereum future price will increase significantly between 2023 and 2030. For example, it says that the price of ETH will be $3364.82 in 2023 and $3845 in 2024.
As you note from the graph, Bination anticipates that the price of ETH will be $3364.82 in 2023. Eventually, it will rise to $5047.42 in 2025 and $11,443.43 in 2030.
Priceprediction.net also gives an estimation of how Ethereum will go up between 2023 and 2030. According to them, the lowest possible price of ETH in 2023 is likely to be $1,738.59 while the highest will be $2,158.26. The possible average price for the year should be $1,789.81.
It further predicts the price of ETH to reach $4,354.91 in 2025, $6,191.64 in 2026, $9,029.33 in 2027and $13,068.22 in 2028. It also estimates that the value of ETH will rise to $19,796.31 in 2029 and $28,357.82 in 2030.
Significantly, Coin Price Forecast gives an Ethereum 10 year prediction. It estimates that the price of ETH will increase from $1,977 in 2023 to $2,109 in 2024. By 2029, the value of ETH will likely increase to $2,872, before further rising to $3,078 in 2030.
Coinpedia is another organization that gives us an ethereum forecast for 2025. In fact, it provides an overview of possible ETH prices for three years up to 2025 as indicated in the table.
As you note in the table above, the predicted minimum price for 2025 is $3 818.20 while the highest is $10,222.73. The following table shows ETH price prediction between 2026 and 2030.
The table shows where ethereum will be in 5 years and beyond. For example, it anticipates that the price of ETH will be $6,610.75 in 2026 and $26,575.21 in 2030.
The various predictions, discussed above, show that ETH will go up by a huge margin. In some cases, it will rise by over 50% within half-year periods. According to the estimations, ETH will have a value of between $10,000 and $27,000 by 2030.
Conclusion
In short, the price of ETH is likely to increase significantly in the next 8 years. The factors that can push its price up include the coin’s greater adoption, the successful launch of the Shanghai upgrade, more media coverage, and an expansion of GameFi. There is a possibility that ETH will reach $27,000 by 2030.