Why Ethereum is the Contrarian Play for 2025 According to Bitwise CIO

Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan contends that Ethereum remains promising despite 2024 price struggles.

For most crypto assets, especially market leaders Bitcoin and Solana, 2024 was an extremely positive year that led to rallies to new highs. However, with Ethereum, most investors were left feeling underwhelmed as it failed to spark a rally to new highs and managed only a 46% gain.

Nonetheless, Ethereum still looks promising and could have some goodies in store for investors, at least according to Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan.

The “Contrarian” Play for 2025

Ethereum may offer a great “contrarian play” for 2025, according to Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan. The market analyst expressed this view in a clip shared by Altcoin Daily on Wednesday, January 8. This clip notably originates from an October 2024 interview with the platform.

Hougan explains that there is always the temptation to write off Ethereum as it is not the OG blockchain Bitcoin or new and shiny like some of its supposed “killers” such as Solana, Aptos, and SUI. However, he notes that this may be foolhardy.

Hougan highlights that Ethereum remains promising despite its price struggles as it continues to dominate every blockchain use case, from DeFi to stablecoins to tokenization.

He also points out that Ethereum has a strong appeal among traditional finance institutions.

Despite Hougan’s views, Ethereum, like most other crypto assets, has not had the best start to the year.

Macroeconomic Headwinds

After an initial rally in the first week of January 2025, Ethereum is back in the red, trading at $3,319.65, just below its 2025 opening price of $3,330.52. The muted price action comes amid macroeconomic headwinds. Specifically, stronger-than-anticipated U.S. economic data have dampened interest rate cut hopes.

Despite these initial struggles, most researchers expect the asset to at least nearly double in price in 2025. Bitwise, for example, has predicted Ethereum will trade for $7,000 this year.

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