The next four years will likely be positive for crypto prices, and ETH is leading the altcoin pack. With its break above the $280 level in the middle of 2020, ETH smashed out of its post-bear market trading range and is probably going to much higher levels over the next few years.
It is easy to see that ETH prices engaged in a long bottoming process that began in late 2018 and lasted until mid-2020. With the break above $300 on massive volume, ETH is signaling that a new bull market is probably here. Given the backdrop of easy central bank money and government spending programs, ETH prices may be able to rise to levels that are difficult to imagine at the moment.
One of the most important factors that are driving the phase shift in the crypto markets is the adoption as a stand-alone investment by institutional investors. While Bitcoin has traditionally been the favorite of crypto investors, large investors from the established markets don't have the same convictions concerning decentralization.
Instead, these investors are likely to favor a growth model, and also reward platforms that offer the ability to innovate. In short, ETH is the perfect platform for investors that want both the ability to hold a token as money and benefit from the rising use of the platform by third-party developers with new ideas.
Given the interest in Ethereum's blockchain by developers and investors, it isn't hard to see a scenario where ETH prices climb to between $1,000 and $10,000 over the next four years. One of the biggest unknowns going forward is central bank policy, which has been very difficult to predict over the past decade, especially in 2020.
As ETH is becoming a cash-like reserve asset for established investors, it is highly likely that 'fresh money' that would have flowed into equities or debt may now find a home in long-term ETH holdings. While ETH is gaining in value, its total capitalization will well below $100 billion USD.
With the current float of ETH in the markets, a $6,000 price would imply a capitalization of around $650 billion, which is still low when compared to a single company like Apple or Alphabet. Of course, the potential uses for ETH's blockchain are far wider than either of these two companies' products or services.
Given ETH's relatively small capitalization at the moment, the potential for an explosive rise in price at any time is very real. Mainstream payment platforms are opening the door to crypto use, and the technology to use tokens like ETH at a retail level is in place. It is very difficult to predict how high ETH prices will go in the coming years, but the direction is certainly up.
Other Factors That Could Affect The Future of ETH
The Ethereum blockchain is on the cusp of making some major changes. The ETH 2.0 project is now fully funded and will begin work on a project that is designed to make a shift from Proof-of-Work (PoW) to
Proof-of-Stake (POS)
When Ethereum was designed, it used the same way to validate blocks that Bitcoin uses, which is PoW.
A PoW system has some major drawbacks, which is what the PoS is [designed](https://ethereum.org/en/eth2/
to address.
No one really knows what will happen as these upgrades are introduced, and they will include a net gain to the amount of ETH in the marketplace. The amount of ETH that will be added is at least 4 million tokens, at least according to new estimates. At its most basic level, this upgrade to ETH 2.0 is a gamble, but if it is successful, ETH will be the most capable public blockchain there is.
Some of the most important problems that a PoS system addresses are the ability of bad actors to mount a 51% attack and the huge amount of energy that is needed to operate a PoW blockchain. There is a lot more, but given the relative infancy of these programs, it is almost impossible to know how they will be implemented, or what effects they may have.
From an investor's point of view, PoS is a much better system. A PoS system creates many more opportunities for passive income, as the holding of a token becomes inherently valuable. Staking on a PoS platform can be thought of as making an interest-bearing deposit, as large stakers are able to earn rewards via their staked tokens.
Smaller stakers who don't participate directly in the validation process can still earn by entering into fixed-payment smart contracts with a validator, which could be a more or less automatic process for any ETH holder that was interested. Overall, ETH 2.0 could be a massive opportunity for digital investors, although no one knows how it will unfold in the coming year. Wait for next blog @hive.blogs
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Disclaimer: None of what is found in this article should be considered investment advice. Much of the above analysis is based on already-released news, expected future developments, and pure speculation. While we can analyze what we have seen in the past, we can not predict the future. This article also may become out of date at some point and fail to reflect current, updated prices and information. Always do your own research before investing and always (!) only invest what you can afford to lose!