ETH Users Surge 9X Since 2020; VanEck Forecasts $22K Price by 2030

The Ethereum ecosystem's active users have increased ninefold since 2020, with VanEck predicting ETH could hit $22,000 by 2030, driven by growing demand and scaling solutions.

Ethereum Sees Ninefold User Growth as Analysts Predict Soaring ETH Prices

In the past four years, the Ethereum ecosystem has experienced an almost ninefold increase in active users. According to Cointelegraph, analysts predict this demand will propel ETH to new heights.

Bitwise, a crypto ETF issuer, compiled data indicating that Ethereum and its scaling solutions Arbitrum and Polygon had an average of over 250,000 daily active users in Q1 2020. The Ethereum layer-1 mainnet accounted for the majority of these users.

This daily user count, which now encompasses the layer-2 networks Optimism, Base, and zkSync, launched in the first quarter of 2024, was approximately 2.25 million, nearly nine times higher.

Ethereum's percentage of active daily users has decreased significantly due to the migration of transactions to L2s.

On June 4, the Ethereum mainnet had 378,000 active users, Polygon had 1.3 million, and the other four L2s had approximately 1.5 million active users.

Optimism was introduced in late 2021, and zkSync mainnet and Base public access was initiated in 2023.

Although Ethereum's user numbers are not particularly impressive, they are a component of its roadmap. Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, is currently concentrating on utilizing L2s to scale the primary blockchain.

He recently contended that L2s are analogous to the sharding concept of the old Eth 2 plan and that the layer may also facilitate the development of various "subcultures" within the Ethereum ecosystem.

VanEck Raises Ethereum Price Target to $22,000 by 2030, Citing Robust Growth and ETF Prospects

In the interim, VanEck, the issuer of crypto ETFs, has increased its price target for Ethereum, anticipating that the cryptocurrency will reach $22,000 by 2030.

Matthew Sigel, VanEck's head of digital assets research, and two colleagues published a blog on June 5 that increased their 2030 expectations for Ether from $11,800 last year. The analysts noted that Ether's revenue per user surpasses that of most Web2 businesses and is expected to gain popularity among traditional financial market participants and Big Tech.

"We anticipate that spot ether ETFs are nearing approval to trade on U.S. stock exchanges. This development would allow financial advisors and institutional investors to hold this unique asset [...] and benefit from the pricing and liquidity advantages characteristic of ETFs," said the analysts.

The analysts added, "We project ETH's 2030 valuation based upon a forecast of $66B in free cashflows generated by Ethereum and accruing to the ETH token."

Ryan Sean Adams, the co-founder of Bankless, observed that the Ethereum blockchain generates three times more in fees than the top layer two networks and Solana combined, despite its lower user numbers. He referred to it as a "modern miracle."

The L2s benefit from the security of the main chain and pay Ethereum fees to resolve transactions. According to CoinGecko, Ether is priced at $3,862, a 1.3% increase over the past 24 hours.

Some caution that the inflows into the new crypto ETFs will be substantially lower than the Bitcoin ETFs, even though many anticipate that the launch of spot Ether ETFs will eventually drive the price of Ether to a new all-time high.

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