Key Points
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These cryptocurrencies have all seen their values drop even more than Bitcoin since peaking last year.
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Activity on their respective blockchains shows promising fundamental use of each token, driving demand.
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By 2030, each of these cryptocurrencies could be priced much higher than today.
- 10 stocks we like better than Ethereum ›
Although stock prices are near all-time highs, the cryptocurrency market is in a deep bear market. Bitcoin is down more than 50% from its all-time high reached last October. Other tokens and currencies are down even more.
But crypto investors are no strangers to major declines. And buying into the weakness has often led to phenomenal returns for those who can stomach the extreme volatility. Buying Bitcoin at its current price isn’t unreasonable, but one group of analysts sees even better opportunities in the market. Geoffrey Kendrick, lead analyst at Standard Chartered, sees each of the following cryptocurrencies climbing at least 2,500% during the next few years.
1. Ethereum
Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) is one of the most popular blockchains in the world. The cryptocurrency currently trades for about $1,600, 65% below its all-time high reached last August. Kendrick sees it rebounding to $4,000 by the end of the year and reaching $40,000 by 2030.
The core reason for his high expectations for Ethereum is that the underlying activity on the blockchain remains promising. He compared the recent collapse in Ethereum’s price to the drop in Amazon‘s price in 2001. He referred to a quote from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos: “As I watched the stock fall from $113 to $6, I was also watching all of our internal business metrics… every single thing about the business was getting better. And so, while the stock price was going the wrong way, everything inside the company was going the right way.” Kendrick pointed out Amazon returned 1,000 times for investors since its 2001 lows.
Ethereum’s internal metrics are very good. The June transaction count was 46% higher than a year ago. Value locked on the blockchain remains higher in total Ethereum than it was when the cryptocurrency peaked in August. He also sees Ethereum’s position in stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets as a main draw for the blockchain, as both increase in popularity during the coming years.
Indeed, the value of Ethereum appears to have dropped as a response to the broader cryptocurrency market. But the fundamentals remain strong. It could be a great buy-low candidate for crypto investors right now. Whether it reaches $40,000 by 2030, though, is anyone’s guess.
2. Solana
Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) may be best known for the meme coins launched and traded on its blockchain, but Kendrick says it’s making a push to move beyond that reputation. The cryptocurrency peaked in January 2025, coinciding with the launch of the TRUMP meme coin, and now trades at just $80, down more than 70% from its all-time high. Kendrick thinks it can reach $250 by the end of the year and $2,000 by 2030.
That rise will be fueled by growing stablecoin-based micropayments, Kendrick says. Solana’s main advantage is its relatively low gas (user) fees. Solana keeps its gas fees extremely low by running transactions in parallel, allowing validators to process thousands of transactions on its network at the same time and creating local fee markets when a specific application becomes congested (so it won’t affect pricing for other applications on the blockchain). Additionally, Solana’s most recent update, Alpenglow, dramatically increased transaction speeds on the chain, enabling it to process more volume.
The long-term potential for Solana remains. Investors will want to look for further momentum in Solana’s blockchain activity, with expansion into more use cases where it’s uniquely suited, thanks to its low fees and high-speed transactions.
3. XRP
XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) is the token backed by Ripple, the company working to improve cross-border payments and settlement. The company has been doing well, but XRP’s price has fallen from a high of $3.65 last summer to a little more than $1 today. Kendrick sees the price rebounding to $2.80 by the end of the year and $28 by 2030.
As mentioned, a lot is going well for Ripple right now. The Securities and Exchange Commission in 2025 dropped its case alleging that XRP was a security, which fueled the run-up to its recent high. Since then, Ripple has seen an increase in activity on its ledger, with Chief Executive Officer Brad Garlinghouse projecting it will reach a $1 billion revenue run rate by the end of the year.
However, the real question for XRP’s value is how much of the growing activity on Ripple’s platform uses XRP. XRP facilitates nearly instant currency exchange by acting as a bridge currency on the Ripple Payments system. This enables a bank to make cross-border payments without maintaining cash accounts in multiple currencies. However, XRP is not required to use Ripple’s products, and a growing portion of the business is focused on Ripple’s stablecoin, RLUSD.
To be sure, there’s a huge cross-border transaction market that could benefit from using XRP to speed up the process. Growing demand for XRP exchange-traded funds (ETFs) could also provide demand for the token. At a bit more than $1, XRP looks like a good opportunity for a token with real-world use cases, but it might not reach Standard Chartered’s lofty expectations.
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Adam Levy has positions in Amazon, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and XRP. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
