Ethereum is the crypto world’s favorite right now. And the predictions are getting more and more interesting by the day.
Real Vision CEO Raoul Pal shared his outlook on X, saying: “My general thesis for the full cycle is ETH outperforms BTC. SOL outperforms ETH and SUI outperforms SOL due to where they all are on the network adoption curve.”
His comments come as Ethereum touched a new all-time high of $4,946 on Sunday, closing in on the $5,000 mark, while Bitcoin struggles through another day in the red.
Ethereum Gains Ground on Bitcoin
Institutional money is pouring into Ethereum. By mid-2025, $40 billion worth of ETH had been staked, and BlackRock’s ETHA ETF saw $9.4 billion in inflows, far outshining Bitcoin’s $548 million.
Corporates are also jumping in. BitMine staked 1.52 million ETH ($6.6 billion), and SharpLink Gaming added 740,760 ETH ($3.2 billion). Nearly 30% of ETH’s supply is now locked, cutting liquidity and driving demand.
Tech Upgrades Fuel Ethereum’s Edge
Ethereum has a lot going for it. The Dencun upgrade slashed Layer 2 fees by 95%, powering 30 million daily transactions. New upgrades, Pectra and Fusaka, have pushed its network capacity to over 100,000 transactions per second, beyond Mastercard’s peak range.
With zkSync and Arbitrum holding $12 billion in total value locked and transactions under a dollar, Ethereum is becoming faster, cheaper, and more attractive to both users and institutions.
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Wall Street Turns to ETH
The SEC’s 2025 utility token classification gave Ethereum a regulatory boost, sparking nearly $8 billion in ETF inflows while Bitcoin saw outflows. Deutsche Bank’s Project Dama 2, built on zkSync, highlights how traditional finance is now using Ethereum’s rails.
The tokenization wave is also here: real estate, art, and infrastructure is already hosted on Ethereum, making it a key player in real-world asset adoption.
Solana and SUI in the Mix
Ethereum may be the headline, but Solana and SUI are fighting for attention. Solana, back above $200, has outperformed ETH in the last few days. Pal also defended SUI after criticism, saying its wallets, stablecoins, and developer activity are “exploding.”
Not everyone is convinced Solana can flip Ethereum, though. As one crypto promoter mocked on X: “Deep down they all wish bonkfun came first.”
The Road Ahead
Top analysts share Pal’s view that Ethereum could challenge Bitcoin. Fundstrat’s Tom Lee sees a 50% chance of ETH flipping BTC’s market cap.
For now, Ethereum is leading the institutional race, Solana is making its case, and SUI is pushing to be taken seriously. The real story is whether the crypto hierarchy is about to change just as Pal predicts.
