The top cryptocurrency could increase by 3,500% - Prediction from Cathie Wood of ARK Invest

Since President Donald Trump's administration took office, the cryptocurrency sector has experienced a tumultuous year. The government has rolled back many strict regulations and enacted important legislation aimed at fostering innovation in the digital asset space. These moves could reshape the entire industry and accelerate the integration of cryptocurrency into the mainstream economy.

For long-term optimistic investors, this policy change further reinforces the belief that cryptocurrency prices will grow even stronger. One of the most enthusiastic supporters is Cathie Wood, CEO of ARK Invest, known for her belief in breakthrough technology and the ability to transform industries. For Wood, cryptocurrency and blockchain are an essential part of ARK's future vision.

Currently, Wood is emphasizing a specific cryptocurrency that she believes has the potential to increase by up to 3,536%, becoming an investment option to consider before the next major bull run occurs.

Practical utilities - Core factors for growth potential

One of the cryptocurrencies that Cathie Wood and ARK Invest are particularly optimistic about is Ethereum (ETH), the second largest cryptocurrency in the world with a market capitalization of approximately 560 billion USD at the current time. Since its official launch in 2015, Ethereum has maintained its position as number 2 in the market, only behind Bitcoin.

While Bitcoin is increasingly seen as a store of value—a form of "digital gold"—the real strength of Ethereum lies in the practical applications of this blockchain. The Ethereum network is the foundation for the ecosystem of decentralized applications (dApp), operated by smart contracts. These contracts automatically execute when conditions are met, eliminating the need for intermediaries and opening up many new use cases in fields such as real estate, finance, supply chain, and healthcare.

Ethereum is also the most popular blockchain for dApp development, with thousands of applications built and over 234 million unique wallets interacting with the network over the past decade. Many of today's leading cryptocurrencies are developed as ERC-20 tokens on Ethereum, and the majority of the world's largest stablecoins are also operating on this blockchain.

Cathie Wood has long expressed optimism about the long-term development trajectory of Ethereum. At an ARK Invest conference last year, she predicted that Ethereum could reach a market capitalization of $20 trillion by 2032, based on an expected total supply of 120 million tokens. This corresponds to a price of $166,000 per ETH, which is an increase of more than 3,500% from the current price of around $4,635.

The economic mechanism of tokens reinforces growth potential

The token burn mechanism of Ethereum—permanently removing tokens from circulation after each transaction—is an important factor that can drive prices higher through supply reduction. This mechanism, implemented through the EIP-1559 upgrade, creates a scarcity factor similar to Bitcoin, but with superior transaction features and programmability.

Wood even compares Ethereum to U.S. Treasury bonds, a notable perspective on its potential role in the global financial system. Since transitioning from the proof of work (PoW) consensus mechanism to proof of stake (PoS), Ethereum allows token holders to stake tokens to earn yield, while also supporting transaction validation on the network.

These staked tokens are often used as collateral in DeFi and other transactions, which ARK argues is comparable to how treasury bonds operate in traditional finance. If this comparison is widely accepted by the market, Ethereum's role in the global economy could significantly develop, reinforcing its position as a core digital asset in the investment portfolio.

Analysis of Ethereum Price Prediction at 166,000 USD

Predicting cryptocurrency prices is always a complex challenge, as digital assets do not generate cash flow or profits like traditional listed companies. The entire sector is still relatively new, highly volatile, and significantly influenced by market sentiment and technology adoption trends. Therefore, forecasts from influential figures—such as Michael Saylor with Bitcoin or Cathie Wood with Ethereum—are often regarded with a cautious perspective.

However, in the long term, investors who trust Ethereum have seen positive results. Ethereum remains one of the few cryptocurrencies with clear practical applications and a strong developing ecosystem. Although challenges such as network congestion and scalability still exist, Ethereum continues to be the platform for a large volume of digital asset transactions, especially stablecoins—which are increasingly being used in global trade and financial transactions.

This growing demand further reinforces the investment thesis in ETH, regardless of whether it actually reaches the price of 166,000 USD as predicted by Wood. The fundamental factors of the network, along with the continuous development of the application ecosystem, continue to strengthen Ethereum's position as a leading cryptocurrency with significant long-term growth potential.

Bitcoin Hyper: A solution to unlock the potential of Bitcoin

While Ethereum remains at the forefront as the leading smart contract platform, investors are also paying attention to emerging projects that combine scalability, speed, and usability with the security of Bitcoin. One of the notable candidates is Bitcoin Hyper (HYPER).

Unlike many other altcoins, Bitcoin Hyper is positioned as a Layer-2 scaling solution for Bitcoin, allowing for thousands of transactions per second, extremely low transaction fees, and smart contract support through integration with the Solana Virtual Machine (SVM). This means that developers can build complex decentralized applications on the Bitcoin platform—a capability that has never been achieved before.

With over 13 million USD raised in the initial funding round and increasing interest from both individual and institutional investors, Bitcoin Hyper is gradually becoming a project to watch in 2025. For those who agree with Cathie Wood's vision of the applicability of blockchain, HYPER provides an additional option: turning Bitcoin from "digital gold" into a programmable network similar to Ethereum.

As Ethereum continues to face challenges regarding scalability and network congestion during its development, Bitcoin Hyper emerges as a noteworthy alternative, with the potential to contribute to the advancement of the next generation in the field of decentralized finance and blockchain applications.