The crypto market hasbeen stuckfor almost the past three months, and most altcoins have declined significantly asBitcoin(BTC-USD) trades up and down the $60,000–$70,000 band. There is naturally quite a bit of uncertainty about where the market will go next.Either wecould see a more significant downturn below $50,000 or less, or Bitcoin could continue its rally higher.No one knowsfor surewhat the near term holds, but we can make some educated guesstimates about the long-run.
In my opinion,the top three cryptos will be worth much more in 2025 as more positive catalysts take shape. I will explore these catalysts with each crypto.As a note, bytop 3, I am talking about Bitcoin,Ethereum(ETH-USD), andSolana(SOL-USD).I will not touch onTether(USDT-USD) for obvious reasons, and I will not talk aboutBinance Coin(BNB-USD) either, as I believe itis heavily manipulated. With that said, let’s take a look at the following crypto price predictions.
Bitcoin (BTC-USD)
As I’ve noted earlier, the top dog in the crypto market has been stuck in the $60,000 level for quite a while now. However,I do not thinknear-term price actionmattersif you are dollar-cost averaging into Bitcoin as the conventional wisdom says.If you aren’t, you shouldn’t be too anxious either. There has historically been some bearish price action post-halving, so what we see right now isn’t unusual.
Moreover, Bitcoin has routinely seen 15%-20% crashes during bull runs and still made new highs in the coming weeks. The current cooldown has been ongoing for a bit longer thannormal, but given the fact that this token’s RSI is still at 70, I remain optimistic that significantly more upside could come in the next few months. On the other hand, the fear and greed index does hint that we could see some downside.
Whatever the catalyst is,I thinkBitcoin should close in on $100,000 by mid-2025.This isdue to the fact thatwe are barely a month into the halving. The halving’simpact takes many months to materialize. Plus, rate cuts are expected in the coming months. Institutional investors also have very easy access to Bitcoin now with spot ETFs. So, withall of these factors combined, my guesstimate would be that Bitcoin could top out around $95,000-$100,000 this cycle.
Ethereum (ETH-USD)
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Ethereum is the second-largest cryptocurrencybymarket capitalization. It usually rides Bitcoin’s tailwinds higher. This blockchain network is home to all the flashiness in the Web 3.0 space.Ethereum has smart contracts and NFTs,anditis home to most AI + data projects like Render (RNDR-USD) and Storj (STORJ-USD).Even crypto startups that plan to have theirownblockchain use Ethereum as a launchpad by having their own ERC20 token on the chain. Moreover, most metaverse projects like The Sandbox (SAND-USD), Decentraland (MANA-USD), and Axie Infinity (AXS-USD) are on Ethereum.
All of these projects need to use Ethereum to processtransaction fees. This createsasteady demand for the crypto, and I think this is the second-biggest catalyst behind why I’m bullish on Ethereum.Itis also a deflationary cryptocurrency after the move from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake.
Thebiggestcatalyst that could push Ethereum higher is the possibility of spot ETFs. The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved a number of spot Bitcoin ETFsso far, and investors are hopeful that Ethereum will also get itsown similar ETFs. The SEC has called Bitcoin a commodity, but has never clarified whether it views Ether as the same. Former commissioner William Hinman said Ethereum might be decentralized enough to pass as a commodity, but given the SEC’s stance on Ripple, this is a coin flip.
With that in mind,I thinkEthereum could cross $10,000 if the ETFs get approved. If not, $7,500-$8,000 is more fair.
Solana (SOL-USD)
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Solana has been one of the top performers this bull run. It isa very interestingproject, and there’sa lotto unpack here.If you’re new to crypto,you should think ofSolanaasbasicallya faster version of Ethereum with some drawbacks.
The biggest drawback here is that itis not asstable.Solana has had multiple network outages before, and while the Solana team has reducedthe occurrence of these eventsdramatically in recent months, they’ve left a permanent stain on the project’s reputation. Moreover, Solana has a fraction of the validators Ethereum has, so it’s more centralized by nature.
Thisdoesn’t meanSolanacan’tperform well.Its recent impressive performance is solid proof of that, and Solana has managed to steal market share away from Ethereumwhen it comes toNFTs. Once gas fees on Ethereum rise during the next leg up, we should see a lot more action here.I thinkSolana could top out around $400-$450 in 2025.
On the date of publication, Omor Ibne Ehsan did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.comPublishing Guidelines.
Omor Ibne Ehsan is a writer at InvestorPlace. He is a self-taught investor with a focus on growth and cyclical stocks that have strong fundamentals, value, and long-term potential. He also has an interest in high-risk, high-reward investments such as cryptocurrencies and penny stocks. You can follow him on LinkedIn.
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