Ethereum Turns 10: Experts Say ETH Could Hit $40,000 in Next Decade as Network Matures

Ethereum officially turned 10 on Wednesday, marking a decade since its mainnet launch on July 30, 2015. Although its native token, Ether (ETH), has struggled to maintain momentum over the past five years, experts say its long-term outlook is improving.

Originally proposed in a 2013 white paper by programmer Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum introduced the concept of smart contracts, or self-executing code deployed on decentralized networks. The blockchain also paved the way for decentralized applications (dApps) and helped enable the emergence of decentralized finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs).

Currently, Ethereum is the world’s largest blockchain by total value locked (TVL) in DeFi, holding nearly $84 billion of DeFi’s $140 billion TVL, per DeFiLlama. In terms of valuation, ETH is only second to Bitcoin (BTC) – with ETH currently trading at around $3,800 with a market cap of $459 billion, compared to Bitcoin’s $2.3 trillion, according to CoinGecko.

What initially began as a research project has grown into the leading platform for much of the crypto space. And now, as Ethereum turns 10, industry experts are reflecting on its influence, which goes beyond being just a blockchain – to many, Ethereum has laid the foundation of today’s Web3 landscape.

‘Computer for computers’

Ignacio Palomera, CEO of Bondex, explained in comments shared with The Defiant that when Ethereum first emerged in 2015, its narrative often centered around its potential as a blockchain to be built on. “Ten years later, Ethereum has more than served that purpose; it has drafted the playbook for anyone who wants to build a truly interoperable and decentralized ecosystem – a legacy and lasting impact far grander than initially anticipated,” he said.

Palomera also emphasized that it was Ethereum that introduced the key ideas that changed how people use money, digital assets, and connect online.

“It wasn’t just about building new applications; it was about developing a robust, decentralized platform that acts as the foundation for continued innovation,” he explained. “Ethereum’s emergence as the ‘computer for computers’ has been its most significant achievement so far.”

Austin King, co-founder of Omni Network, echoed this view, saying Ethereum’s introduction of smart contracts “opened the floodgates for innovation in decentralized finance.”

“Since its introduction, we have seen new use cases for trading, lending and derivatives built in a novel way that prove to the world the financial system can be trustless and open for all to participate,” King added.

What’s next?

Looking ahead, King said Ethereum is poised for “widespread commercial adoption for the first time in its history,” as driven by recent technical innovations and much-needed regulatory clarity.

Meanwhile, Marcin Kazmierczak, co-founder of RedStone, believes that over the next 10 years, Ethereum will likely shift from being mainly a DeFi platform to becoming the “base layer” for institutional finance and real-world asset (RWA) tokenization.

He explained that the major shift will be from ‘crypto-native’ applications to seamless integration with traditional platforms, “where users interact with Ethereum-based services without even knowing they’re using blockchain technology,” similar to how users engage with A.I.

“Smart contracts will power everything from long-term mortgages to overnight lending, but the complexity will be abstracted away,” Kazmierczak said. “The real success metric won’t be TVL or gas fees, but how invisible yet essential Ethereum becomes to global finance.”

Kazmierczak told The Defiant that based on network growth metrics, a conservative projection places ETH’s price between $25,000 and $40,000 by 2035. That forecast assumes steady adoption of tokenization, Ethereum maintaining 60–70% dominance in DeFi, and capturing just 5% of global financial settlement volume.

Trevor Koverko, co-founder of Sapien, told The Defiant that while he believes ETH could hit $10,000 “very soon,” in the next 10 years, “we could very well see Ethereum reaching the same level of Bitcoin’s value now.” Currently, BTC is trading at $117,000.

“Consider that the Ethereum chain is one of the most flexible for developers and has strong AI integration,” Koverk said. “The latter alone is responsible for ETH’s strong upswing over the last year as more AI integration drives investor interest at both the singular and institutional levels.”

Major milestones

Over the past 10 years, Ethereum has hit several major milestones that helped define both the network and the broader crypto landscape.

ETH hit an all-time high of $4,878 on November 9, 2021. Less than a year later, the Ethereum network completed “The Merge,” transitioning from Proof-of-Work (PoW) to Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus. The upgrade combined Ethereum’s original execution layer with the Beacon Chain’s consensus layer – a move that significantly reduced energy consumption and enabled staking.

Another milestone was reached in 2024 when Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) were approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Trading of these ETFs began on July 23, 2024.

“The approval of the Ethereum ETF was a watershed moment for the crypto industry, legitimizing ETH in the eyes of mainstream investors and institutions alike,” Katherine Wu, the COO of ENS Labs, said in comments shared with The Defiant. “With Ethereum ETFs, [investors are] getting something different: a productive, programmable asset that underpins stablecoins, tokenization, real-world assets, and more. The ETH ETF didn’t just validate an asset class – it validated an ecosystem.”

In the year since their launch, U.S.-listed Ethereum ETFs have attracted $9.6 billion in cumulative total net inflows. Meanwhile, total net assets stand at over $21 billion, or 4.75% of Ethereum’s market cap, according to SoSoValue data. The largest single-day ETH ETF inflows were recorded on July 15 and totaled over $726 million.

“These are massive numbers that speak volumes: institutions aren’t just paying attention, they’re allocating,” Wu said. “And when Ethereum sees this kind of inflow and validation, the entire ecosystem benefits.”

Earlier this year, Ethereum’s Pectra upgrade went live on May 7 – it’s considered the biggest upgrade since The Merge. Pectra included 11 major Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) aimed at enhancing the network’s functionality and user experience.

Most recently, Ethereum treasuries have started gaining traction, with companies like BitMine, BTCS, GameSquare Holdings, and The Ether Machine rapidly accumulating Ether as a strategic asset. BitMine is currently the largest ETH treasury company (holding around 0.5% of all ETH in circulation), with hopes of eventually accumulating 5%, according to a recent report by Standard Chartered (SC).

So far, these companies have collectively purchased 1% of all ETH in circulation in just two months. This is double the pace of corporate treasuries purchasing BTC. Moreover, SC believes these firms may eventually end up owning 10% of all ETH.