Ethereum needs no introduction, first launched in 2014, Ethereum is one of the world’s oldest altcoins and the second-largest cryptocurrency after Bitcoin. Over the past few years, the coin’s rise has been exponential, paving the way for thousands of altcoins and crypto projects to carve out a niche.
This guide will discuss our Ethereum price prediction for both the short and long term, touching on the coin’s utility, its future potential, and where you can invest in ETH today – with low trading fees.
Ethereum Price Prediction - Summary
At the time of writing, the Ethereum price today is below $1500 due to a sustained downtrend over the past few months and a dramatic crash in recent months. To help provide an overview of ETH’s long-term outlook, presented below is our price forecast for the years ahead:
- End of 2023 — Once the Ethereum stock price begins a bull run, it can sustain itself for weeks and even months. With the next altcoin season, Ethereum could test new highs and trade at $6,000 by the end of 2023.
- End of 2024 — As the coin starts to gain momentum and the project continues to expand, the leading altcoin could continue growing in 2024. The increasing mass adoption could help the Ethereum price prediction reaching a peak of $9,000 by the end of 2024.
- End of 2025 — Although some of the best alternative altcoins may develop better services and projects than Ethereum over the coming years, this cryptocurrency asset should retain its ranking due to its name status. Due to this, our Ethereum forecast estimates the coin could reach a peak value of $15,000 by the end of 2025.
- End of 2030 — With the rate of crypto adoption showing no signs of slowing, there’s scope for ETH to become more widely accepted by big companies. Should this occur, there’s undoubtedly scope that Ethereum could surpass the $25,000 level and reach $28,000 by 2030. Some Ethereum bulls even predict a $100,000 ETH in the future.
- End of 2040 — Depending on the adoption by several countries and Ethereum’s ability to reshape the traditional technology and blockchain system, more and more traders will be attracted to the coin. As a result, Ethereum could reach as high as $70,000 by the end of 2040.
Cryptoassets are a highly volatile unregulated investment product.
{{coininfo}}
Ethereum Price History
As the second most popular cryptocurrency to hit the mainstream, Ethereum has broken down many walls in the space and created a pathway for other projects to flourish. Although ETH was considered the best altcoin cryptocurrency for a long time, other coins have sprung up that possess appealing use cases that have taken the attention away from Ethereum. However, many investors still look to buy Ethereum due to its value upside potential and low volatility risk relative to other new crypto coins.
The first recorded ETH price was in August 2015, when the coin began trading at $0.7533. Investors looking to buy cryptocurrency and gain exposure to this leading blockchain technology helped drive Ethereum’s price over the following years, seeing ETH’s price hit $2,500 in 2015. However, it wasn’t until mid-2020 that Ethereum entered the mainstream.
The price of Ethereum rose a staggering 2,300% throughout the latter half of 2020, breaching the $4,900 level. A sustained bear market followed this high, which saw Ethereum lose around 60% of its value.
More recently, the Ethereum stock price today has been hit hard by the fallout from FTX’s collapse. Although ETH is not involved, the panic has prompted many investors to sell off their crypto holdings. This has had the unfortunate effect of causing Ethereum’s price to fall. Thus, at the time of writing, Ethereum is trading around the $1,650 level.
Before we dive into our Ethereum price prediction, here’s a brief answers of the point discussed so far:
What price did Ethereum start at?: $0.7533 is Ethereum’s earliest recorded price on CoinMarketCap and was reached on the 8th of August 2015.
Ethereum’s all-time high?: Ethereum reached an all-time high of $4,891.70 on the 16th of November 2021.
What was Ethereum’s lowest price?: on the 21st of October 2015, Ethereum hit its all-time low of $0.4209.
A close inspection of how Ethereum performed in 2021 is also highly beneficial. 2021 began with Ethereum at $730.37, it then rallied to the high mentioned above, and closed the year at $3,682.63.
Ethereum Price Prediction 2023
Looking further ahead, how could the Ethereum price prediction perform in 2023? As mentioned earlier, numerous altcoins have launched over the past few years that look to capitalize on Ethereum’s success. Many of these altcoins have been competing with ETH regarding scalability and speed.
In reality, this does appear to be true. Solana is seen by many investors as the top cryptocurrency to invest in since it uses blockchain technology and Smart Contracts in a more innovative way than Ethereum.
However, even though Ethereum’s technology may be becoming slower than rivals, the coin is still growing in its adoption worldwide as the market leader in Blockchain Smart Contracts. That is why many such price analysis platforms see Ethereum going up in the next year. The leading crypto analysts estimate that the price of Ethereum will reach $2500, by the end of 2023.
As always supply and demand will be a factor. However, remember that there is no max supply of ETH, and so this dynamic is a less defining factor in comparison to Bitcoin, so investors shouldn’t focus too much on it.
More importantly, ETH2.0 will play a significant role in the next few years — or it might not. This is because the process of transitioning to proof-of-stake is very gradual, completed in a series of updates. This factor is also important in regards to its competitors — many new competitors are proof-of-stake.
This pervasiveness should help the currency continue growing over time. Furthermore, many analysts predict that Ethereum and other major cryptocurrencies will only further decouple from traditional market forces.
DeFi and other services launched on Ethereum will also drive interest in ETH for the remainder of the decade. That said, DeFi can be a double-edged sword. Again, regulation of DeFi services could play a role that could help, which is why our Ethereum price prediction for 2023 estimates the ETH coin could be worth as much as $5,000 by this point.
Cryptoassets are a highly volatile unregulated investment product.
Ethereum Price Prediction 2024
At the moment, the Ethereum price chart doesn’t make for good viewing – yet the coin’s prospects are still positive for the years ahead. One of Ethereum’s main value drivers heading into 2024 will be the Ethereum Layer 2 scaling solutions.
Some of the current solutions include Plasma and completing transactions off-chain. If Ethereum manages to tackle scalability issues, it could be very welcome news for the price of ETH.
Another crucial factor is Ethereum’s media presence. Unlike Bitcoin, Ethereum’s reputation is relatively clean and as more people learn and talk about it, it could increase demand for ETH and increase the price. As such, our Ethereum future price prediction for 2024 sees the coin valued at $7,000.
Ethereum Price Forecast Long Term Outlook – 2025 Prediction
Any Ethereum price prediction is subject to numerous factors - some of which we have touched upon above. Inevitably, given the volatility of the cryptocurrency market, any forecasting is little more than speculation and can only ever serve to give you an idea of what an asset’s potential for growth might be.
That being said, one way in which accuracy can be improved is by drawing together several Ethereum price predictions and basing subsequent conclusions on the aggregated forecasts.
At the time of writing, the Ethereum price history chart has shown a downtrend in the coin value and that is attracting long-term investors as it could be one of the best cryptos on the market today.
This is because Ethereum remains the most ‘viable’ option due to its market cap, reputation and relatively low volatility risk compared to other digital assets.
Crypto experts also expect more institutional money to pour into Ethereum in the next few years. Traders of this scale (crypto whales) can have a massive impact on the price of Ether when they buy tokens.
For instance, Ethereum generated returns of up to 450%. Those capable of taking advantage of its price swings can greatly benefit from investing in ETH in the long-term and could generate significantly higher returns.
In best-case scenarios, Ethereum and other crypto assets will only increase at an institutional and retail level. With that in mind, our Ethereum price prediction 2025 estimates that ETH could reach a valuation of $15,000 by the end of that year.
Cryptoassets are a highly volatile unregulated investment product.
Ethereum Price Prediction 2030
Now let’s analyze our Ethereum price prediction over the long term. As highlighted earlier, Ethereum retains enormous support from both retail and crypto investors on the markets.
The year 2027 will see a big drop in interest in proof-of-work cryptocurrencies and heavier investment in proof-of-stake cryptos, such as Ethereum. Its price will likely be driven by high demands from best crypto exchanges as such more platforms offer ETH as a tradable instrument, making it even easier for newcomer investors to buy and hold the coin.
In Addition, Many payment providers ( such as Master Card and PayPal) have listed and offered Ethereum for buying, selling and investing proposals.
Due to the high demand, our Ethereum price prediction 2030 forecasts that the coin could reach the $28,000 level by this point.
According to experts on Coin Switch, $50,000 will definitely be the trading price of Ethereum by 2030. On the same topic, market experts on Coin Price Forecast predicts the period from 2028 to 2032 as the digital assets greatest run for growth investors who hold assets for a long time.
There are many experts who are more bullish of Ethereum maximalists predicting a much higher price for ETH, with a huge prediction that the coin could reach up to $100,000 in the next decade.
Cryptoassets are a highly volatile unregulated investment product.
Ethereum Price Prediction 2040
The further ahead an Ethereum price prediction looks, the more inaccurate it is likely to become. This is not a reflection of the analytical platform, it is simply that the speed of which the market changes is almost impossible to map out. This is easy enough to see for yourself - simply look at how much blockchain technology has progressed over the last ten years - and how many platforms were able to accurately predict things.
Looking for a long term Ethereum price prediction? The Ethereum price 2015 to 2022 was highly volatile, as more liquidity and a general interest in crypto knowledge meant that most ETC trading was confined to BIG groups of people. And, now that Ethereum has hit the mainstream and is here to stay, investors are wondering where ETH’s price could head over the next 20 years.
But long-term Ethereum price predictions can be a good way to gauge current market sentiment and get an idea of how leading platforms believe future events - such as the Ethereum 2.0 upgrade - will affect prices.
Most crypto investors researching the top crypto will naturally gravitate towards ETH, as it is the most easily accessible and has the highest level of reputation and credibility. Furthermore, Ethereum is arguably still the most popular crypto on the market.
Combine these factors with Ethereum’s growing popularity within the legacy blockchain market, and there’s a clear recipe for long-term success. The live Ethereum price will undoubtedly benefit from greater adoption in the coming years.
For this reason, our Ethereum price prediction 2040 estimates that the coin could be valued at $75,000 by this point. This would represent an increase of 4,900% from today’s price.
Cryptoassets are a highly volatile unregulated investment product.
Potential Highs & Lows of Ethereum
The sections above have represented a deep analysis into our Ethereum price prediction for the years ahead. Presented below are some critical areas of note that ETH investors may wish to keep their eyes on going forward.
The below prediction figures outline the potential highs and lows of Ethereum price prediction forecasts offered by technical analysts and industry experts.
| Year | High | Low |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | $6,000 | $1,700 |
| 2024 | $9,000 | $2,400 |
| 2025 | $15,000 | $3,500 |
| 2030 | $28,000 | $7,000 |
| 2040 | $75,000 | $14,000 |
Ethereum - A Quick Recap
Ethereum was developed by Vitalik Buterin and went live in 2015, signalling a new breed of second-generation cryptocurrencies. Whereas Bitcoin and other first-gen cryptos were limited to bein
g token exchanged, Ethereum offered a whole new digital ecosystem with almost limitless potential.
Of course, you don’t need to be familiar with all of the technical features to invest in Ethereum, but understanding the basics is key to grasping what has made Ethereum the second-biggest cryptocurrency in the world.
One major feature of Ethereum is its programmability. On top of hosting its native token, Ether, the Ethereum blockchain can also be used as a platform for smart contracts, digital apps, games and more. In fact, the Ethereum network is home to several other DeFi tokens.
Cryptoassets are a highly volatile unregulated investment product.
The Rise Of The So-Called ‘Ethereum killers’
Anyone looking to invest in Ethereum needs to consider altcoins that will potentially compete for market space. Whilst Ethereum continues to be one of the most advanced 2nd generation cryptos, it should be noted that there have been several new arrivals since 2015 purporting to be of a new, third generation. So how might these affect our Ethereum price prediction?
Cardano, Polkadot, and Avalanche are often cited as rivals to Ethereum’s crown as the top blockchain for smart contracts and decentralized apps. Whilst it is true that these altcoins are developer-focused and offer numerous applications, it should be noted that, as of yet, none hold anywhere near the same stability, reputation or market capitalisation of ETH.
Some rivalry is little more than the result of overzealous journalism, as there are key differences in architecture and intent between Ethereum and its so-called rivals.
For example, whilst Polkadot is often lauded as an Ethereum killer, it is actually geared more towards users looking to build their own blockchain and/or connect networks together, whereas Ethereum’s central focus is as a platform for deploying smart contracts. As such, the two cryptocurrencies, though similar, are not in direct competition.
Cardano has grown recently, occupying the number four slot according to several prominent exchanges. If there is an ‘Ethereum killer’ to watch, it’s Cardano. However, the altcoin is undergoing its own upgrades so many of its key features are yet to be realized. Only time will tell if it can still rival ETH once Ethereum 2.0 is fully up and running.
Ethereum’s biggest rivals include:
Cryptoassets are a highly volatile unregulated investment product.
What’s The Point Of Ethereum?
Ethereum is an open-source blockchain technology platform that carries out secure crypto transactions. But it seeks to do a lot more than just secure transactions.
Blockchain technology was first introduced with Bitcoin and Ethereum seeks to be the foundation in which we can take blockchain tech into more areas where it will be beneficial.
Using blockchain, Ethereum can bring decentralization to the web (in an attempt to build Web 3.0) and financial services, increase the efficiency of businesses, digitally establish ownership of assets, and create dApps — essentially improve any area that struggles with centralisation and transparency.
Because of this, Ethereum is often regarded as having more potential than any other cryptocurrency or blockchain project.
In addition to its native Ether, the Ethereum platform also supports many other cryptocurrencies. A lot of these cryptos are active in the decentralized finance (DeFi) market — a fast-growing sector that provides services such as loans, insurance, and savings programmes free from big banks and other centralised businesses.
Throughout 2020, Ethereum processed $13.5 billion worth on decentralized exchanges, up from less than $3 billion in 2019. As the demand for more decentralized services continues to grow, Ethereum will benefit from the success of the altcoins which run on its platform.
As well as being the second-largest cryptocurrency, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has also discovered that Ethereum is the third most widely known crypto in the United Kingdom. 17% of its respondents reported that they had heard of the altcoin before in 2021, placing it behind Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash (BCH).
Some of the top benefits of Ethereum include:
- 94% of blockchain projects are already built on Ethereum.
- Tokenization of assets — this enables people to own portions of assets, e.g., real estate.
- Open-source technology, meaning anyone can access and learn how to use it.
- Transparent ledger making it impossible for criminals to hide illicit transactions.
- Second most liquid cryptocurrency after Bitcoin.
- One of the most active blockchains, making it almost impossible for hackers to perform a 51% attack (they would need a lot of computing power).
- Privacy — companies can create ‘permissioned’ networks on Ethereum.
- Faster and cheaper to use than Bitcoin.
Cryptoassets are a highly volatile unregulated investment product.
Who Invented Ethereum Coin?
The development of Ethereum is mostly led by the Ethereum Foundation, a non-profit organisation that supports the growth of Ethereum-related technologies. The foundation is located in crypto-friendly Switzerland. Other contributors to the development of Ethereum include Hyperledger, Nethermind, OpenEthereum, and EthereumJS.
Ethereum was created by Vitalik Buterin, and he is largely seen as the face and leader of Ethereum. Other important co-founders include Charles Hoskinson (who would found Cardano), Gavin Wood (who would found Polkadot), Anthony Di Iorio, Amir Chetrit, Jeffrey Wilcke, Mihai Alisie, and Joseph Lubin (founder of ConsenSys).
Updates include:
- The merge: In September 2022, Ethereum merge both its proof-of-stake chain (The Beacon Chain, or Eth2) with its proof-of-work chain, enabling staking for the entire network.
- Shard chains: In 2023 these chains are being designed to help Ethereum process more transactions and data.
How Does Ethereum Work?
Any long-term Ethereum price prediction must consider the coin’s future projects. Ethereum Has the potential to develop further use projects. Combined with the coin’s reputation status and considerable credibility, these use cases will likely drive price appreciation.
Ethereum made it possible to use blockchain technology for many of the things we now associate with cryptocurrency — create tokens, services, games, and assign ownership of items, such as NFTs. If it was not for Ethereum, the crypto market would not have blossomed into what it is today.
The Ether token is used to power these services or anything that requires a transaction (even if the tokens are not ETH), often referred to as ‘gas’ — like you need to pay for gas for your car to work.
Founded before proof-of-stake was invented, for the time being, Ethereum uses a proof-of-work consensus mechanism (just like Bitcoin and many other older altcoins), but it is in the process of changing to proof-of-stake in what is called ‘Ethereum 2.0’ or ‘Eth2’. The first phase of Ethereum 2.0 launched on the 1st of December 2020.
Many Ethereum price predictions expect to see the value of ETH increase as a result of the transition in the next few years. Ethereum 2.0 will bring several key benefits to the platform:
- The new Eth2 platform is designed to process more transactions while massively improving its energy efficiency. At the moment, a single Ethereum transaction requires a staggering 22.65 kWh of energy. In just one year, this means that Ethereum’s power consumption is comparable to that of the whole of Costa Rica!
- Ethereum will be switching from a proof-of-work algorithm (PoW) to a proof-of-stake algorithm (PoS). In a PoW system, cryptocurrency miners have to solve complex equations using their computers to verify transactions and add them to the blockchain. This process requires vast amounts of energy, contributing to Ethereum’s whopping power consumption. In a PoS system, however, users can simply ‘stake’ their cryptocurrency as collateral to verify their transactions.
The first phase was severely delayed, so many Ethereum price predictions believe we won’t see the full benefits of the complete upgrade for a while. (Crypto Rating, for example, believes we’ll start to see significant increases in the price of ETH around 2024, as the remaining phases are unlikely to have been implemented before then.)
If Ethereum can process more transactions, lower its fees, and boost its transaction time, we’re likely to see a huge increase in the demand for its services. This, in turn, will have a positive impact on Ethereum price predictions.
Unlike Bitcoin, there is no fixed supply of Ether, which means it’s a lot more scalable than other crypto alternatives. This is just one of the reasons why many investors believe Ethereum will ultimately outperform Bitcoin.
But not everything is perfect with Ethereum, of course. Some investors don’t like that there is no max supply which means that the total supply can always be increased. This makes Ethereum very different from Bitcoin which has a maximum supply of 21 million BTC, which means there is a scarcity aspect to Bitcoin that gives it value. Ethereum doesn’t have this scarcity.
(That said, there has been some debate about if Ethereum should implement a cap on the maximum number of tokens that can exist, so there is always the possibility that this could change.)
Others dislike the difficulties Ethereum has had with congestion on the network (which has at times meant much higher gas fees, especially in February 2021) and more old school investors think that Ethereum drifts too far from what Bitcoin was intended to do — enable decentralized transactions.
Latest Ethereum News
It is not proper to conclude this ETH price prediction guide without touching on the importance of staying up-to-date with market information. If you are really going to invest in Ethereum, it is important that you always get the necessary breaking news about the coin and its entire network.
Potential Ethereum investors will always benefit from staying updated about developers within the Ethereum ecosystem and the wider blockchain industry. Whether you are trading or investing, it is important to get the latest news about the token, about the Ethereum network, as well as about the blockchain sector.
One of the most interesting latest Ethereum news you should know is that Blackrock, the largest money management firm in the world with over $10 TRILLION dollars in assets under management, is BULLISH on Ethereum Cryptocurrency.
Is Ethereum A Good Buy?
Ethereum might not be as stable as Bitcoin, but it is a safe investment when it comes to its security.
However, one should be careful when investing in Ethereum to distinguish it from Ethereum Classic, as they are two different cryptocurrencies.
Although Ethereum may not be the next crypto to explode due to its ‘mature’ status within the broader crypto market, it still retains massive support from the investment community.
According to Deloitte, several business analysts expect blockchain technology to have an invaluable impact on businesses from diverse sectors globally. It is believed that when the technology fixes all of its problems primarily scalability (transaction processing speed) and extensively adopts interoperable features, it has the potential to improve effectiveness and efficiency of organizations.
Additionally, it can also increase revenue through cost cutting and in the long term help with the creation of new business models, services and products.
Ethereum’s 2.0 networks come with new features Proof-of-Stake and Sharding which are to help deal with transactions speed and security issues. Aside this, on 11th February, 2021, almost two months after official announcements were made, Ether futures went live on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) which is the largest derivative exchange in the world.
This helps traders of Ethereum futures the ability to use leverage to efficiently increase capital and the chance to profit from the future movements of the digital asset.
Ethereum’s price far and wide extends beyond making instant gains and considers several factors as to the number of Decentralized Finance projects which are already running on its platform as well as other potential projects which can satisfy an untapped market in the finance stratosphere.
With daily trading volumes crossing billions of dollars, ETH is a good buy and has the potential to surpass Bitcoin (BTC) in terms of price and market capitalization in the future.
Where To Buy Ethereum
With the majority of Ethereum price predictions pointing to significant growth, now could prove to be a good time to invest in ETH. However, if you are new to the market, you might not know exactly how to add Ethereum to your portfolio.
Most cryptocurrency exchanges will now allow users to buy and invest in ETH.
Through our full research, we’ve found that eToro offers the best place to buy Ethereum quickly and easily. eToro is one of the world’s leading crypto brokers, with over 30 million registered users.
We recommend this platform - one of the leading retail brokers on the market. Here, you’ll not only gain access to the crypto markets, but you’ll also have some of the industry’s leading tools and metrics at your fingertips.
Cryptoassets are a highly volatile unregulated investment product.
Conclusion – Ethereum Price Prediction
This article has presented a comprehensive Ethereum price prediction for the years ahead, touching on Ethereum’s projects and value potential.
Based on Future Ethereum price prediction, the ETH altcoin can expect to see significant growth over the coming years. Leading analysts vary wildly on their forecasts - but if even the most conservative predictions pan out, anyone who chooses to invest in Ethereum could see decent returns.
Over the next 10 years, renowned hedge fund manager and crypto analyst Cathie Wood - CEO of Ark Investment - is strongly bullish on Ethereum price action. She argues that Ethereum’s market cap will possibly exceed $20 Trillion by the start of the next decade.
ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood and her firm is MORE Bullish than ever on Ethereum cryptocurrency.
So should you invest in Ethereum? Ultimately, ETH is still the second-biggest cryptocurrency in existence and as such it represents one of the more reliable investments in what is a very unpredictable market. The altcoin has huge potential for growth due to its myriad of applications and, assuming appetite for smart contracts continues to grow, ETH may well prove to be a good investment over both the short term and long term.
Other Crypto Price Predictions
- Bitcoin Price Prediction
- MultiversX Price Prediction
- Shiba Inu Price Prediction
- Stellar (XLM) Price Prediction
- Litecoin Price Prediction
- Stacks Price Prediction
- BitDAO Price Prediction
- Aptos Price Prediction
- Ripple Price Prediction
- Toncoin Price Prediction
eToro – Best Platform To Buy Ethereum
Open an account with eToro, deposit some funds with USD, and finally – buy ETH coins from just $10.
Cryptoassets are a highly volatile unregulated investment product.
We hope our Ethereum price prediction has helped you decide if you should or should not invest in ETH and what could be a sensible price target for you. As you likely know, investing in crypto assets such as Ethereum can be pretty risky, so you really need to have a coherent plan.
Read More:
FAQs Ethereum Price Prediction
What will Ethereum be worth in 2023?
Through our research and analysis, we estimate that ETH could reach $6000 by 2023. This would be just above the all-time highs posted in late 2021.
Will Ethereum Go up?
With Ethereum’s ecosystem set to grow in size and fuel further development in the crypto market, there is little stopping it from increasing further. Such as, our Ethereum price prediction forecast strongly implies that ETH will go up and hit several new all-time highs. We are yet to truly see what Ethereum is capable of.
What is the Ethereum price prediction for 2024?
Our Ethereum price prediction for 2024 estimates that the coin could reach a valuation of $9,000.
What Will Ethereum Be Worth In 5 Years?
Over the next five years, ETH will likely continue to become more widely adopted by major institutional corporations. As such, there’s every chance that Ethereum could hit $7,350 by 2027.
Is Ethereum A Good Investment?
Yes, Ethereum is a very good investment. Arguably, it is the best investment in the crypto market, perhaps even better than Bitcoin. This is because it powers so much of the crypto ecosystem. If you’re looking to invest in cryptocurrency, then Ethereum is definitely a good option. Second only to Bitcoin, Ethereum arguably boasts the most versatile blockchain infrastructure and as such has a great deal of potential.
Is It Too Late To Buy Ethereum?
Most likely it is not too late to buy Ethereum. Though Ethereum is perhaps the most important crypto asset, it is still likely nowhere near as large as it can get. Our predictions suggest that it will increase tremendously over the next few years.
How much will Ethereum be worth in 2025?
Our Ethereum forecast estimates ETC could be worth $15,000 by 2025. This would represent a return of 1000% for those who invested today.
What will Ethereum be worth in 2030?
Our Ethereum price prediction estimates the coin could hit $25,000 by 2030. This would likely be driven by greater adoption by major institutions and wider adoption by individuals and businesses as a legitimate and widely-used cryptocurrency.