What does ETH look like for $100,000?

If ETH reaches $100,000, Ethereum will become a multi-trillion dollar economy with huge knock-on effects.

At a price of $100,000 per Ether (ETH), today’s circulating supply of 121.1 million would represent a market value of approximately $12.1 trillion. That’s about 3.2 times Apple’s market cap and about 44% of the estimated total value of gold.

If approximately 36 million ETH remains at stake (29.5% of supply), this alone represents $3.6 trillion of bond capital. On this scale, all further indicators are strengthened: from the security budget (via staking rewards) to the impact of US dollar fees and the collateral base supporting decentralized finance (DeFi) and ETFs.

This article examines not only how ETH could reliably reach $100,000, but also what running an economy of this scale would look like in practice.

Did you know? VanEck made the most significant call for over $100,000. On June 5, 2024, the SEC-regulated asset manager released its 2030 Ether valuation model, forecasting a price shock of $154,000 per ETH and a base case of $22,000.

What could push ETH to $100,000?

Six digits likely requires multiple persistent drivers to be connected simultaneously.

1. Indefinite institutional offer: Spot ETH funds have already shown that they can attract stern money. If allocations expand from cryptocurrency offices to pensions, wealth managers and retirement accounts, these creations will become a ponderous, mechanical wave that consumes supply.

2. Onchain dollars at scale: Stablecoins have reached a near-record high of around $300 billion, and tokenized US Treasury bill funds have moved from being a pilot to being a real security. BlackRock’s BUIDL is valued in the $3 billion range, while VBILL and other products are energetic. More daily settlements and collateral on Ethereum and its rollups deepens liquidity and forces more fees (and burns) on the system.

3. Scaling that keeps costs low while ETH continues to deliver value: The Dencun upgrade made it cheaper to bulk publish data via blob transactions, keeping Layer 2 (L2) user costs down to cents. Crucially, bulkpacks still settle on Ethereum in ETH and blob-based fees are burned. Activity can move up the stack without cutting Ethereum – or capturing its value – from the loop.

4. Deficiency mechanics: Staked ETH exceeded 36 million (29% of supply), which further tightened the tradable rate. Re-staking is already a significant layer of capital with the potential to provide even greater liquidity. When you add sustained fee burn, it means that revenues will start hitting the thinner fluid – a classic feedback loop.

5. Macro and expectations: Street baselines remain much lower, with most projections ranging from $7,500 to $25,000 for the 2025-2028 period and a $22,000 baseline by 2030. Reaching six figures would likely require a perfect mix of conditions: hundreds of billions in ETF assets under management (AUM), several trillion dollars in onchain money, and tokenization while keeping Ethereum its own participation and consistent compensation of the burning of emission fees during the liquidity-friendly cycle.

In the case of ETH, a single update or tiny speculative burst won’t do the job on its own. The real signal comes when consistent trends converge. This is evident in the consistent inflow of ETFs and the growing apply of stablecoins and tokenized funds on Ethereum and its L2. High throughput and L2 firing boost this strength, along with broader participation through staking and re-staking.

ETH network economics at $100,000

On a six-figure scale, even compact percentage changes to the protocol translate into huge flows of dollars – and that’s what ultimately funds network security.

Ethereum Ethereum bonds the issuance with an ETH share that secures the network. As more ETH is staked, the reward rate per validator decreases, allowing security to scale without excessive inflation. At $100,000 per ETH, the real headliner will be the USD value of these rewards.

Think in elementary units.

The security budget in USD is equal to ETH spent annually x ETH price. At $100,000 per ETH:

• 100,000 ETH issued annually → $10 billion

• 300,000 ETH → $30 billion

• 1 million ETH → $100 billion.

These dollars are accompanied by priority fees and maximum extractable value (MEV) from block production.

As onchain businesses grow, revenue streams also grow in USD, attracting more validators and gradually reducing percentage gains even as total dollar payouts continue to boost.

On the other side of the ledger, Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 1559, charges a base fee (and blob fees after the introduction of Dencun) for each block. Intensive apply increases fuel consumption. Whether net supply is six-figure inflationary or deflationary depends on the carbon-burn balance (i.e. how much block space users consume on L1 and L2).

Staking also shapes liquidity. Greater stake share tightens the tradable market and channels more activity through liquid staking tokens (LSTs) and re-staking layers. It’s a capital-intensive solution, but the risk is concentrated: operator dominance, correlated cuts and exit queue dynamics matter more when trillions of dollars are at stake.

Ultimately, an issuance that seemed modest in the context of ETH amounts to tens of billions of dollars of security spent; a burn that seemed to be growing may offset a significant portion of it. The combination of direct staking, LST and re-staking becomes a first-order factor in both security and market liquidity.

Did you know? When we say “USD security budget,” we mean the total dollar value that Ethereum spends each year to compensate validators for securing the network.

How Ethereum Stays Useful at $100,000

Users will only tolerate six-figure ETH if daily transactions remain economical and the network continues to appreciate in value.

At a price of $100,000, L1 gas fees turn into much higher USD fees. Dencun is a pressure valve: bulks publish blob data much cheaper, so routine activity stays on L2 for cents, while bulks still settle in Ethereum and pay for it in ETH.

The charge still exists but has been redirected. L1 continues to burn base fee and blob fees are also burning, so ETH is destroyed as usage scales.

The six numbers only apply if real users are still transacting. Economical L2 keeps retail and business flows energetic; L1 sediments and spots keep ETH in the center and burning continues. This combination sustains demand (infrastructure spending in ETH) and tightens supply (via combustion) – the kind of feedback loop where the high valuation needs to be sustainable.

Indeed, low-cost L2 protects the user experience, while L1/L2 value capture (fees paid in ETH, continuous burning) supports this resource. Without both, activity would migrate or grind to a halt, undercutting the demand that $100,000 worth of ETH requires.

Where are the six-figure flows coming from: ETFs, DeFi, stablecoins, collateral

At a price of $100,000, who buys – and how – is defined by the market regime, not the headlines.

• ETFs as a structured offer: Spot funds turn portfolio rebalancing and retirement contributions into predictable creations, not bursts of noise. Most wrappers do not stake, so fit float remains on exchanges for price discovery, even if protocol-level staking reduces tradable supply. This balance – consistent net purchases from funds and adequate liquidity for sellers – can turn pointed gains into sustained growth trends.

• Mechanical DeFi Lifter (and Sharper Edges): As prices rise, collateral values ​​boost, creditworthiness increases, and protocol revenues boost through higher fees and MEV provisioning. But risk also scales: liquidation bands widen, risk parameters narrow, and oracles face greater strain when markets move quickly.

• Stablecoins as a settlement layer: Stablecoins support most everyday onchain payments and transfers. As their supply and velocity boost on Ethereum and its collectives, market liquidity deepens while users continue to pay low L2 fees. Rollups pay ETH for data transfer and settlement on L1. This keeps ETH at the center of settlement and ensures that demand remains high even as most activity shifts above the core layer.

ETFs provide a fixed, structured offering, while stablecoins and DeFi generate continuous economic activity. Together, they support a six-figure valuation on both sides: constant buying pressure from funds and an energetic network that consistently consumes and burns ETH.

What can derail $100,000: second-order effects and a resilience checklist

Substantial valuations amplify everything: volatility, regulatory scrutiny and operational vulnerabilities.

• Faster cascades, thinner pockets: With size comes greater volatility and leverage. Liquidations may cascade faster at L2 and bridges, and slender liquidity pockets may be more severe.

• Narrower policy scope: Expect tighter oversight of liquid staking, staking and re-staking, ETF disclosures and consumer applications. Errors in this area may disrupt flows or force structural changes.

• Centralization and shared dependencies: Validator concentration, single-operator sequencers, and shared custody/oracle dependencies move from housekeeping to systemic risk at scale.

• Breaking down UX and raising the security bar: Day-to-day activity is shifting toward L2, driven by billing abstraction and sponsored gas, while L1 remains reserved for high-value billing. Larger dollar rewards inevitably attract more capable adversaries, making customer diversity, MEV market design, and credible evidence of errors or escapes non-negotiable.

If we’re talking about what keeps $100,000 stable, it comes down to operator diversity, good exit queues, conservative risk parameters, solid clients, and reliable oracles – these are the signals the substantial allocators track. When these metrics align with the inflow of ETFs and continued growth in the network, $100,000 will no longer sound like a “maybe.”