The crypto market has been stuck for almost the past three months, and most altcoins have declined significantly as Bitcoin (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 we could see a more significant downturn below $50,000 or less, or Bitcoin could continue its rally higher. No one knows for sure what 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, by top 3, I am talking about Bitcoin, Ethereum (ETH-USD), and Solana (SOL-USD). I will not touch on Tether (USDT-USD) for obvious reasons, and I will not talk about Binance Coin (BNB-USD) either, as I believe it is 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 think near-term price action matters if 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 than normal, 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 think Bitcoin should close in on $100,000 by mid-2025. This is due to the fact that we are barely a month into the halving. The halving’s impact 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, with all of these factors combined, my guesstimate would be that Bitcoin could top out around $95,000-$100,000 this cycle.
Ethereum (ETH-USD)
Ethereum is the second-largest cryptocurrency by market 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, and it is home to most AI + data projects like Render (RNDR-USD) and Storj (STORJ-USD). Even crypto startups that plan to have their own blockchain 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 process transaction fees. This creates a steady demand for the crypto, and I think this is the second-biggest catalyst behind why I’m bullish on Ethereum. It is also a deflationary cryptocurrency after the move from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake.
The biggest catalyst that could push Ethereum higher is the possibility of spot ETFs. The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved a number of spot Bitcoin ETFs so far, and investors are hopeful that Ethereum will also get its own 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 think Ethereum could cross $10,000 if the ETFs get approved. If not, $7,500-$8,000 is more fair.
Solana (SOL-USD)
Solana has been one of the top performers this bull run. It is a very interesting project, and there’s a lot to unpack here. If you’re new to crypto, you should think of Solana as basically a faster version of Ethereum with some drawbacks.
The biggest drawback here is that it is not as stable. Solana has had multiple network outages before, and while the Solana team has reduced the occurrence of these events dramatically 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.
This doesn’t mean Solana can’t perform well. Its recent impressive performance is solid proof of that, and Solana has managed to steal market share away from Ethereum when it comes to NFTs. Once gas fees on Ethereum rise during the next leg up, we should see a lot more action here. I think Solana 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.com Publishing Guidelines.
