In interview along with Aaron Arnold, founder of Altcoin Daily, Matt Hougan, chief investment officer (CIO) at Bitwise Asset Management, shared his bullish predictions for Ethereum for 2025. In a cryptocurrency environment where Bitcoin and emerging high-performance blockchains such with Solana, Sui, and Aptos dominating the headlines, Hougan positions Ethereum as a “contrarian bet” that could offer significant gains for investors willing to look beyond current market sentiment.

Why Ethereum is the best ‘contrarian bet’

Hougan recognized Ethereum’s unique position in the cryptocurrency market. He describes Ethereum as “an asset that people love to hate; it’s kind of like the middle child of cryptocurrencies.” While Bitcoin retains its status as the original cryptocurrency and store of value, newer blockchains are attracting attention with promises of superior performance and groundbreaking features. Meanwhile, Ethereum is often criticized for issues such as high fees and the migration of activity to Layer 2, leading some to view it as an old-fashioned technology struggling to keep up with the competition.

However, Hougan challenges this narrative by highlighting Ethereum’s fundamental role in some of the most critical and rapidly growing areas of the crypto industry. “When you step back and look at what the killer crypto applications are outside of Bitcoin? These are things like stablecoins, DeFi [decentralized finance]and tokenization,” he notes. Despite the emergence of alternative platforms, Ethereum remains the leading blockchain supporting these applications. It is the primary choice for developers and institutions. “If you are a large, traditional financial player looking to build on a public blockchain, which blockchain are you most likely to choose? You will choose Ethereum,” Hougan claims.

Bitwise CIO attributes Ethereum’s impoverished performance to a transition phase in its development. “I think this year has kind of sidestepped Ethereum because it’s going through a complicated teenage correction in its architecture,” he explained. This “teenage adjustment” refers to Ethereum’s constant updates.

Hougan remains bullish on Ethereum’s long-term prospects, seeing it as a forceful contrarian play for 2025. “Ethereum is the best contrarian bet in crypto right now,” he stated via X. Hougan believes the current market focus on Bitcoin and newer Blockchains have caused many to overlook Ethereum’s lasting strengths and growth potential. He argues that once blockchain completes its architectural modernization, it will be in a better position to leverage its dominant role in key sectors such as stablecoins and DeFi.

When asked if he thought Ethereum would break its all-time highs, Hougan expressed cautious optimism. “I certainly think we could see that in 2025 if we see significant growth in the application space,” he replied. However, he emphasized that Ethereum’s ability to reach recent price levels is more contingent compared to Bitcoin. “I think it’s maybe more conditional than Bitcoin,” he admitted.

Key among these conditions is the introduction of favorable stablecoin regulations. “We need to see positive legislation for stablecoins that will help them aggressively enter the mainstream,” Hougan emphasizes. Regulatory transparency and support for stablecoins could lead to increased adoption and integration into the mainstream financial system, directly benefiting Ethereum as the main platform for these digital assets. Additionally, it indicates the need for further development of decentralized applications (dApps) built on the Ethereum network. “We need to see more development of applications built on the Ethereum ecosystem,” he added.

Hougan advises investors to focus on the overall growth and development of the Ethereum ecosystem, rather than short-term issues such as fee structures or migration to Layer 2 solutions. “I don’t think it’s the best play on Ethereum right now,” he notes, referring to to concerns about fees and network congestion. Instead, it suggests that Ethereum’s intrinsic value will become apparent as its ecosystem develops and matures. “Think about the development of the ecosystem and the value will regulate itself,” he says.

Hougan stated that while he remains bullish on both Bitcoin and Ethereum, he sees a unique opportunity in Ethereum due to its current undervaluation and the market overlooking its potential. “I know I just made a very bullish case for Bitcoin; now I am making a very bullish case for Ethereum. I’m bullish about both situations and I think the configuration of both is quite good,” he concludes.

At the time of publication, ETH was trading at $2,624.

Featured image from YouTube, chart from TradingView.com