'Ethereum Has Long-Term Potential': Why Experts Believe in the Recovery of $ETH

Ethereum (ETH) has been on a downward trend since the beginning of 2025, with February marking the worst month in history. Is there still hope for recovery? According to CoinGlass, the price of Ethereum has fallen nearly 19% in March. This decline has continued since January. In February, ETH fell nearly 32%, making it the worst February in the history of this cryptocurrency.

Traditionally, February and March are considered strong months for Ethereum prices, often rising. However, in 2025, that trend has reversed. Ethereum does not face the same credibility issues as Solana (SOL), but investors are increasingly frustrated with its continuous decline. The most recent all-time high for this cryptocurrency was on November 10, 2021, when it reached $4,878.

The ongoing downturn has raised concerns within the cryptocurrency community that Ethereum may be heading in the wrong direction. Some have even suggested that Vitalik Buterin should resign to create new momentum for the project. Tim Delhaes, CEO and founder of Grindery, shared his perspective: Personally, I still believe in the long-term potential of Ethereum. However, in the short term, this platform is facing significant uncertainty and negative sentiment, which is always a cause for concern. ‘Ethereum is undergoing an identity crisis’ Ethereum continues to release regular updates. One of the most anticipated updates is the Dencun upgrade, set to launch in March 2024. The main goal of this upgrade is to reduce network fees, long regarded as the biggest weakness of Ethereum. Although the update has successfully reduced transaction costs, it has also created an unintended consequence. Eneko Knörr, CEO and co-founder of Stabolut, explained this paradox in a comment sent to Cryptonews: Ethereum is undergoing a much deeper identity crisis than the recent price drop. The Dencun upgrade, which was supposed to enhance scalability and lower transaction costs, has inadvertently turned scalability into Ethereum’s biggest enemy. In an effort to make the network faster and more affordable, it has also reduced the circulating fees through the system—fees are the main way investors assess the value of the network. Therefore, while user experience has improved, revenue has been affected, and this is reflected in the price of ETH. Data from TokenTerminal supports this observation. In the past 30 days, the revenue of Ethereum has fallen by 76.6%, while the fees have fallen by 60.4%.

Knörr also pointed out the growing concerns surrounding the economic structure of Ethereum, particularly the role of Layer 2 network (L2): The more concerning issue is the growing feeling of economic imbalance. Ethereum is at risk of becoming the infrastructure layer driving a booming ecosystem—while holding very little of the value created on it. Layer 2s like Arbitrum, Optimism, and Base are currently earning more fees than Ethereum itself, but hardly any of that is being redirected to support the base layer. It’s like building roads but seeing all the toll money go elsewhere. Base and Arbitrum (ARB) are also gaining a foothold among decentralized exchanges (DEX). According to DeFiLlama, both are ranked in the top 5 blockchain DEX, in fourth and fifth positions respectively. However, it is noteworthy that Ethereum still holds the top position in this ranking—this position used to belong to Solana, thanks to the popularity of its meme coins.

What factors can affect the price increase of Ethereum? One of the main questions is whether the price of Ethereum will rise or not—and when. While many investors still believe in its long-term future, short-term uncertainty continues to cloud the outlook. Eneko Knörr told Cryptonews that the recent price fall of Ethereum is also related to the increasing competition among Layer 1 blockchains (L1): The recent fall in the price of Ethereum is not just about market cycles or short-term sentiment—it reflects deeper changes taking place across the entire ecosystem. On one hand, there is increasing competition: blockchains like Solana are making a strong comeback and newer platforms like Aptos and Sui are attracting attention. They are beginning to challenge Ethereum’s role as the Layer 1 for both developers and users. At the same time, Ethereum remains one of the most attractive cryptocurrency assets for institutional investors. Despite the ongoing debates surrounding the development of the project, the network has demonstrated resilience. Tim Delhaes added that incorporating Ethereum into the reserves of the United States — which is said to be related to Donald Trump — could play a role in price recovery: If the Federal Reserve ultimately recognizes Bitcoin and Ethereum as reserve assets, this could act as a positive catalyst, but even so, the current outlook remains relatively bleak. Knörr agrees that the reputation of Ethereum continues to support its position in organizations, even with the increasing competition and technical challenges: Although the performance of ETH has not kept up with Bitcoin recently, organizations continue to choose Ethereum due to its unparalleled decentralization, solid security, and extensive developer ecosystem. When it comes to building the future of tokenization—a market that could reach trillions—they trust Ethereum as the platform. Newer chains may be faster or cheaper, but organizations still value the reliability and proven track record of Ethereum.