Ethereum (ETH) is celebrating its 10th anniversary today. The brainchild of programmer Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum has solidified its position as the second-largest cryptocurrency, earning the title of ‘digital oil.’
The first decade of Ethereum was marked by numerous milestones. Now, as we enter the next decade, BeInCrypto spoke with several experts to get a glimpse of what the next 10 years will hold for Ethereum.
Will Ethereum Continue to Dominate Web3 in 2035?
BeInCrypto reported on Ethereum’s numerous contributions to the crypto space. In its first ten years, the network pioneered smart contracts, the ERC-20 standard, DeFi innovation, and more. These accomplishments have cemented Ethereum’s role in the Web3 ecosystem as a leading blockchain platform.
But will things stay the same by 2035, or will another blockchain replace Ethereum? Well, many experts believe that the former will hold true. Silvina Moschini, co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Unicoin, emphasized that Ethereum will continue to be the backbone of the Web3 ecosystem by then.
“Ethereum’s resilience, maturity, and adaptability make it more than just a leading blockchain, it is the engine of serious innovation, and it will continue to set the standard well into the next decade,” she told BeInCrypto.
She said that the network supports tokenized economies, decentralized finance, and digital identity systems on a large scale. According to her, its unparalleled developer community and strong smart contract framework place it at the core of future innovation.
“Ethereum won’t just survive, it will thrive. While competition from newer blockchains will continue to emerge, Ethereum’s first-mover advantage, deep liquidity, and unmatched developer ecosystem will remain powerful differentiators. It’s not just the blockchain of record, it’s the cultural and technical backbone of Web3,” Moschini commented.
Vincent Liu, CIO, Kronos Research, also shared a similar sentiment.
“It will stay the dominant destination for depth, discovery, and dependable liquidity so long as these fundamentals hold firm,” Liu added.
Shawn Young, Chief Analyst at MEXC Research, highlighted that while Ethereum may not be the fastest or most cost-effective chain, it is expected to evolve into the most trusted and composable network.
The network will serve as the security and settlement layer for an ecosystem of Layer 2 rollups, modular chains, and tokenized real-world assets. The analyst disclosed to BeInCrypto that,
“Ethereum’s strength in the future will lie in its deep developer ecosystem, institutional integration, and its overall role as digital infrastructure, much like TCP/IP is for the internet.”
He also emphasized that Ethereum holds a first-mover advantage. It is supported by battle-tested infrastructure, and the network effects contribute to its resilience.
“While newer chains may lead in verticals like gaming or AI-native platforms, Ethereum remains a general-purpose, institution-friendly base layer that is hard to replace. I expect a multichain future with Ethereum anchoring the high-value, high-security segment,” Young affirmed.
Bitget COO Vugar Usi Zade acknowledged that Ethereum is not the only protocol advancing through network upgrades. It faces competition from newer chains like Solana, BNB Chain, Cardano, SUI, and XRP Ledger. Despite this,
“Ethereum will always be a favorite, considering it currently harbors a major percentage of DeFi total value locked. Some TradFi firms entering the ecosystem will still opt for strong legacies, especially as Ethereum recently celebrated 10 years of uninterrupted operations, a feat most big tech could not boast of. The attractiveness of Ethereum remains in its large ecosystem of developers, most of whom branched out to develop other chains.”
Additionally, Richard Seiler, co-founder of RR2 Capital, elaborated that Ethereum has demonstrated this year that it is the most important EVM blockchain, with no real competition. It leads in total value locked (TVL), developer commits, decentralized applications (dApps), and stablecoins issuance, surpassing all other chains by a significant margin.
“Yes, there will be faster cheaper chains. But they are not Ethereum. It’s a brand. It represents trust. In a trustless way,” he mentioned.
Moreover, Ray Youssef, CEO of NoOnes, believes that Ethereum’s greatest contribution by 2035 will be beyond all technology. It will be ‘human.’
“Many see Ethereum as a powerful tool that allows people to build their own economic freedom, especially in regions where traditional systems have failed them. Its smart contract infrastructure is already enabling P2P finance and decentralized ID solutions, and in the future, it will likely serve as one of the main drivers for a borderless and inclusive economy,” the executive remarked.
Nonetheless, C.J Freeman, Developer Relations at Kadena, suggested that the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) will likely remain the most important and dominant virtual machine in the blockchain space even in the next decade.
“I still see the EVM as the premier VM for all of blockchain at that point, I think the network effect is too strong at this point for it to not be. Whether Ethereum itself is still the de-facto blockchain for it does still remain to be seen,” he noted.
What Are the Biggest Threats to Ethereum’s Future?
While the majority opinion is that Ethereum is here to stay, it still needs to overcome various obstacles. Liu pointed out that scalability remains Ethereum’s biggest challenge, especially as newer blockchains like Solana and Sui offer faster, low-cost alternatives.
According to him, Ethereum must scale rollup adoption and improve speed to stay competitive.
Furthermore, Silvina Moschini underlined broader issues at play.
“Ethereum faces a complex threat landscape in the coming years, including scalability bottlenecks, regulatory overreach, intensifying competition from faster chains, and increasingly, hidden vulnerabilities in Layer 2 networks. As Ethereum shifts more functionality to these secondary layers to boost performance, it must also ensure that the integrity and security of the overall ecosystem remain uncompromised,” Moschini disclosed.
Usi Zade drew attention to quantum computing as a major future threat. He revealed that while the industry is safe for the next decade, Ethereum lacks protection against potential quantum attacks.
“While SUI has made a breakthrough in quantum transition that can protect EdDSA-based protocols, Ethereum and Bitcoin have no immediate safeguards in place to ward off quantum computing attacks,” the executive conveyed.
In addition, Freeman warns about insider threats that could compromise Ethereum’s decentralization.
“The move to PoS was a hit for many crypto OGs. If ETH is co-opted by nation states or untoward third parties it loses its future use case as a decentralised, secure layer 1 for all L2s to work off. If the base layer is compromised, people will move and ETH will (eventually) become a ghost chain,” he voiced.
Finally, Youssef argued that Ethereum’s biggest threat is losing sight of its mission. Overregulation could exclude the everyday people who need Ethereum the most, turning it into just another tool for Wall Street.
For Ethereum to survive, it must remain focused on decentralization, usability, and purpose, serving individuals rather than institutions.
Ethereum’s 2035 Vision: Sharding, zk-Rollups, and AI-Driven Smart Contracts
Amid these challenges, experts believe that the network could undergo technological advancements or upgrades to address most of its roadblocks and move towards further betterment.
Usi Zade elaborated that Ethereum has not yet completed its full transition to a Proof-of-Stake blockchain. So far, it has only implemented The Merge, with some aspects of The Surge still underway.
“The Surge is focused on scaling with a full Danksharding set for rollout in the coming months. After this upgrade, Ethereum developers will focus on The Verge for data and storage optimization through Verkle Trees, The Purge to reduce network congestion, and The Splurge, which will focus on bug fixes and minor improvements. Later this year, the Fusaka upgrade will go live and developers within the Ethereum ecosystem will work on other updates on a need-to-be basis to meet demands from the mainstream world,” he mentioned to BeInCrypto.
Youssef stated that by 2035, Ethereum will likely have fully implemented sharding, zk-rollups, and privacy-preserving layers, enabling cheap and secure transactions accessible even on mobile phones in remote areas. In addition, Moschini suggested that Ethereum could implement AI-driven smart contract optimization.
Seiler pointed out that implementing upgrades for a blockchain like Ethereum is a significant challenge. He emphasized that this fact should be fully recognized and appreciated.
“They will continue to focus on L2 efficiencies and ultimately bring gas fee costs under $0.01 per transaction. The expansion of blob capacity and handling more blob data is the main priority. With the rampant growth of RWA, one would expect this to be more of a priority than before,” Seiler said.
Freeman focused on the technological developments from the developer’s perspective.
“Perhaps some will be looking at ‘quantum resistance’ or other more buzzwordy improvements, I can’t say if that would or wouldn’t happen, but I can say what we will see. For me as a developer I’m very sure we will see constant improvement to state storage (a bug bear of cost for all ETH devs). Right now this is expensive and we write our code around it, it will be nice when this isn’t such a problem,” he forecasted.
Experts Reveal Unexpected Predictions for Ethereum
Meanwhile, the experts also shared their unexpected or strange development predictions for Ethereum. Youssef envisions Ethereum becoming a ‘digital nation-state,’ offering global, non-sovereign infrastructure with its own governance, reputation system, and possibly decentralized IDs.
It would help individuals in repressive regimes create economic identities, access financial tools, and protect their freedoms. This, in turn, would transform Ethereum from a tech platform into a global movement.
“Ethereum could surprise most by becoming the global ID network bridging on- and off-chain life, which is still off mainstream radar due to security and privacy hurdles. This flips it from the finance hub to the heart of the social networks and governance world,” Kronos Research’s Liu added.
Usi Zade sees Ethereum evolving into a mobile-first blockchain, allowing anyone to run Ethereum nodes on mobile devices, thus accelerating adoption.
“Core developers, such as Vitalik Buterin, have always envisioned a future where almost anyone can run Ethereum nodes on a mobile phone with minimal interactions. This feat may be achieved within the next decade, a move that will further speed up the adoption of the chain, its products, and set a new standard for other chains,” Bitget COO mentioned to BeInCrypto.
Silvina Moschini suggests that Ethereum could become what she called ‘Ethereum Q.’ This would be a quantum-resilient blockchain capable of securely tokenizing various assets. This would shift its identity from DeFi leader to a universal digital trust layer.
Seiler forecasts that Ethereum will play a significant role in the Real-World Assets (RWA) market.
“One unexpected but still plausible outcome is Ethereum becoming a type of public infrastructure, used by governments for identity, taxation, and asset registries. This wouldn’t come from centralization, but possibly from its reliability and neutrality. If multiple sovereign states build on Ethereum, the chain’s identity could dramatically shift from a grassroots experiment to something akin to geopolitical infrastructure, a redefinition of its original ethos,” Young claimed.
Ethereum Price Prediction: Experts Share Forecasts for 2025, 2030, and 2035
While Ethereum’s future as a network is essential, its price potential cannot be overlooked. Experts offer varying predictions on how high Ethereum (ETH) could go over the next decade.
“It’s impossible to predict 10 years into the future with pinpoint accuracy but rather ask the question, do you believe Ethereum price will be higher, or a lot higher in 10 years? We would easily conclude that they will be a lot higher,” Seiler informed BeInCrypto.
He noted that, considering the altcoin rally and the significant lag behind Bitcoin, ETH could reach between $6,000 and $8,000 by 2025, with a potential “blow-off top” pushing it to $10,000.
Youssef predicts that ETH will stabilize between $3,000 and $5,000 in 2025, depending on market conditions and ETF inflows. ETH could climb to $10,000–$25,000 in the next five years, driven by real-world use cases. By 2035, if Ethereum scales globally and serves underserved markets, it could reach $50,000–$100,000.
“With the current rate at which institutions are buying Ethereum, the coin is likely to break its all-time high of $4,891.70 by the end of this quarter. I align with analysts who see more ambitious price tags for ETH in the future. I see Ethereum trading comfortably at $15,000 in the next 5 years, and in 10 years, ETH can be more valuable than Bitcoin with a price target of $40,000 per coin,” Usi Zade shared with BeInCrypto.
Moreover, Moschini links Ethereum’s price to its growing utility and role in the digital economy. By 2025, she predicts a price range of $4,500–$5,500, with significant gains by 2030 ($12,000–$15,000) due to institutional investment and tokenization. By 2035, she sees Ethereum surpassing $25,000 as it becomes a global settlement layer.
Finally, Young expects Ethereum to trade between $2,800–$4,500 in 2025, with potential growth to $8,000–$20,000 in the next five years. By 2035, he sees ETH reaching $40,000–$100,000, driven by institutional demand, tokenization, and Ethereum’s growing role in digital finance, with regulatory clarity and scaling efforts as key drivers.
The post What Will Ethereum Look Like in 2035? Experts Weigh In appeared first on BeInCrypto.
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