While traders have their eyes fixed firmly on Bitcoin’s meteoric rise at the end of 2024, Ethereum was quietly ticking higher. The Ether Head community are die-hard loyalists, and they’re in it for more than just the price action. ETH—unlike BTC—actually has some real-world utility beyond just a cryptographic means of payment and a speculative asset.
The “smart contract” utility of Ethereum makes it a truly special crypto asset, and one held in high regard, not only by retail investors and traders, but by financial institutions as well. 2024 was a big year for Ethereans, as the ETH project, spearheaded by the assets founder—Vitalik Buterin—saw significant developments in its roadmap.
On March 13, 2024, we saw the launch of the much awaited “Cancun-Deneb” upgrade on Layer 2 networks, with the goal of reducing gas fees. Then, at the end of 2024 we saw the integration of the “Prague-Electra” upgrade, with the objective of improving network efficiency and paving the way for future upgrades in 2025, including the “Pectra” upgrade—launched on February 24th—but unfortunately, it failed.
Coincidentally, the Pectra upgrade coincided with “Black Monday” in the crypto markets, which saw the start of a new bear market in Bitcoin, affecting every other crypto asset and altcoin. So, it’s not completely clear if the Pectra failure has anything to do with the ETH slide we saw in the final week of February, or if it was BTC dragging the rest of the market down with it.
What’s next for Ethereum, and where is it going in 2025 and beyond?
Ethereum Price Prediction 2025
*ETH/USDT Weekly Chart; July 2022-February 2025—Source: TradingView (Binance)
Let’s start with a lookback to the price action in 2024 to see if we can get a view on how ETH will perform for the rest of 2025. The weekly chart above shows us a similar story to Bitcoin, with the bear market in ETH officially ending in July 2022, and finding a footing, prepping for a new bull run at the beginning of 2023.
For most of 2023, we saw ETH steadily grinding higher, but with no immediate catalyst other than the “AI Mania” spurred by the introduction of OpenAI’s public release of ChatGPT. Massive investment flooded into the tech sector, and some of the flows entering the market came from investors keen on buying up tech-related assets, including Ethereum.
Then, in October 2023, we saw a sudden increase in inflows to ETH, and a steady growth from the $1,560 level up to $2,200 by the start of 2024, followed by a brief period of consolidation, forming a distribution pattern from mid-December 2023 to the end of January 2023.
In the following five weeks, we saw a massive pump in price, taking ETH all the way to the $4,000 handle.
So, what caused the reversal from bear to bull at the beginning of 2024?
The BlackRock Bitcoin ETF ($IBIT) was finally approved by Gary Gensler and the SEC in January 2024. That was enough of a catalyst to send the market into a frenzy, and the inflows into BTC and the crypto sector pulled the entire crypto market higher, with ETH following the fresh momentum in the market.
After the hype subsided, we saw a pullback in price to the $2,900 handle over the following nine weeks until mid-May. The “Bitcoin Halving” event in April was mostly priced into BTC—and other crypto assets riding its coattails—ETH was quietly building momentum in the background.
Then, the release of the Cancun-Deneb upgrade to ETH’s layer 2 network saw improved sentiment in traders, boosting confidence in the crypto, reversing the downside momentum as increased staking activity on the network saw huge inflows into ETH.
Price mooned back to the $2,950 handle and market exuberance followed. But despite the Cancun-Deneb upgrade reducing gas fees—dropping the average from $15 to $5 per transaction—we saw a deceleration in network activity, and at the end of May, we saw the price tank back to the $2,900 level, before rebounding back to capture the highs at $3,950.
As with all sudden movements in price, the reclaim of the highs was short-lived, an the market started sliding back to the low of $2,150 by 2 September, 2024. Price consolidated in a distribution pattern for the next eight weeks until the end of October 2024.
Enter the U.S. Election and we saw a massive pump during election week as Trumps pro-crypto stance saw the beginning of a fresh new wave of inflows into ETH and the crypto markets as a whole.
Price kept mooning, reaching a fresh ATH for the year in the first week of December 2024. Unfortunately, the price action formed a “head-and-shoulders” pattern on the chart between December 2024 and the end of January 2025.
ETH saw extensive selling pressure in December 2024, and this bearish momentum followed through into 2025 as the head-and-shoulders pattern played out, much to the disappointment of ETH heads around the globe.
Ethereum Price Prediction Q1 2025
Now that we’re all caught up on 2024 and the reasons for both the rise and fall in price action, let’s unpack what went down in early 2025 and make our predictions for the rest of Q12025, through to the end of the year.
*ETH/USDT Daily Chart; November 2024-February 2025—Source: TradingView (Binance)
Looking at the daily chart above, we can see the top in ETH forming on Monday 16 December 2024. Marked by a clear “doji” candle—a sign of market uncertainty—ETH began its slip into a bear market trend that’s lasted since.
The initial downward impulse in price over the following four days would see price dip as low as $3,100 before finding a footing, setting up a downward parallel channel. Price consolidated at the $3,400, forming a wedge pattern, with the energy breaking to the upside on Thursday 2 January 2025 for the Trump inauguration.
But the upward momentum was short-lived, fizzling out on Monday 6 January 2025, with price failing to capture the top of the channel and reversing after reaching the $3,525 handle. From there, we saw a slide back to the $2,900 handle before a recovery sent price into another distribution pattern that lasted until Friday 24 January 2025.
Then on Wednesday 29 January, we saw traders buy up Ether in attempt to get it to rally, with price touching the top of the parallel channel at $3,436, forming yet another doji.
While the Trump election and inauguration saw massive upward movements in ETH price, and Trump pro-crypto stance dragging the market higher—ironically—it was Trump who brought about the massive slide in price over the weekend of 01 February.
Trump announced sweeping tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China, with further plans to implement tariffs on the European Union. This decision sent financial markets into a panic sell-off, and on market open on Monday we saw a massive crash in price, with ETH momentarily breaking out of the bottom of the parallel channel to reach a low of $2,150.
After the tariff announcement was slightly walked back by the Trump administration, we saw price recover on the day to $2,875, forming a hammer—and anyone with technical analysis experience knew what was coming next—a continued slide in price, albeit somewhat gradual.
From Tuesday February 4 2025 to Sunday 23 February, we saw price consolidate in a distribution pattern, slowly grinding above the mid-line of the parallel channel. Traders were hopeful, with the market brushing off the North Korean hack of the “Bybit” exchange on February 3, an event that would typically see price plummet in past hacks of crypto exchanges. Bad actors made off with $1.5 billion in ETH, still, Ether held firm, continuing its consolidation.
Then—we saw “Black Monday” play out on 24 February, and Ethereum joined the rest of the crypto market in a massive crash that saw price fall to where we are at the end of February 2025. Traders are fearful, and downside momentum is increasing, and on Friday 28 February, we saw the ETH price tap the bottom of the parallel channel for the first time.
With one month left in Q1 2025, we expect price to continue to decline. However, the massive selloff volume means that the RSI is heavily oversold, and traders are hoping for a rebound in March. Possibly returning price to the midline of the parallel channel, in or around $2,500.
It’s a tricky one to predict since the green trend line on the chart is at risk of being tested, in or around the $2,000 handle, and if we see a close under this trend line, we’ll see an end of the momentum in the current bull run, opening the possibility of more downside to come.
Ethereum Price Prediction Q2 2025
*ETH/USDT 1Hr Chart; 05 February-28 February 2025—Source: TradingView (Binance)
Zooming into the hourly chart above, we can clearly see that ETH is bouncing off the bottom of the parallel channel, which is also a significant area of support to $2,100. If the rebound continues, we might see a return to the midline at the end of Q1, and price should consolidate in this area for much of Q2. We would need a catalyst to see it move during this time, and this could come from several sources. First, there’s the threat of stagflation in the U.S. economy, forcing Jerome Powell and the Federal Reserve into action should economic weakness present.
We also have the Ukraine/Russia war to consider, and if Trump manages to bring peace to the region, we could see irrational exuberance return to the market, leading ETH and all risk assets higher as fears abate.
Ethereum Price Prediction Q3 2025
With the potential for a distribution pattern forming in Q2 2025, we can expect Q3 to be the start of upcoming volatility based on the seasonality at this time of year. Typically, risk assets endure a knock to price in this time, with the risk of market crashes apparent.
Bull Target: $3,500.
Bear Target: $1,950.
Ethereum Price Prediction Q4 2025
The seasonality shifts in the last quarter of the year. The ETH team intend to release the “Osaka-Fulu” upgrade towards the end of the year, improving ETH network scalability, and if the team manages to get the Pectra upgrade to work, we could see ETH perhaps challenge the annual high for 2025, reaching the $4,000 handle, and if all plays out as it should, we might even see a breakout to the upside.
Bull Target: $4,400.
Bear Target: $2,200.
Ethereum Price Prediction 2026
It’s hard to look so far ahead into a volatile market, especially one with so much going on. But if we see the Pectra and Osaka-Fulu upgrades successfully implemented on the ETH network, 2026 looks promising for the king of smart contracts.
If the crypto bear market expected in the remainder of 2025 continues to play out, ETH will follow suit, and we could start 2026 at a low around the $1,900 handle. But the tailwinds of the network upgrades could prove to be a significant catalyst for ETH, and it may shrug off market sentiment to head higher.
We’ll either see a restest and break above the all-time high of $4,800 in late 2021, or new low as Ether follows the rest of the market down. We tend to stick with the bullish case for ETH due to the substantial network upgrades and the dedicated following of Ether Heads pouring into the coin if BTC doesn’t recover and ETH diverges from the rest of the market.
Bull Target for 2026: $5,000.
Bear Target for 2026: $1,550.
Ethereum Price Prediction 2027-2030
One thing is certain—crypto is now an established asset class, and its more than just a tool for investor and trader speculation. ETH shows real promise of utility with its smart contract functionality, and by 2030 we could see it perhaps outstripping BTC in momentum to the upside as technology like AI unveils new utility for its smart contract functionality.
With a strong development team, a comprehensive road map, and a dedicated following, we don’t see ETH becoming obsolete any time soon. If you’re holding ETH, keep holding, and add to your position during the dips. This DCA strategy could prove incredibly profitable over the next five years.
Bull Target for 2030: $20,000.
Bear Target for 2030: $4,500.
