Update Sept. 24, 1:07 p.m. UTC: This article has been updated to include quotes from Nicolai Sondergaard, research analyst at crypto intelligence platform Nansen.
The cryptocurrency market may experience its first extended cycle due to more institutional capital and trading products in the Web3 industry, making digital asset investments more accessible.
Some investors predict a crypto “supercycle” that may invalidate the theory of the four-year crypto market cycle related to the Bitcoin (BTC) halving, and see digital asset valuation rise beyond this historic time frame.
For the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, Ether (ETH), the supercycle may be catalyzed by Wall Street’s growing adoption of blockchain technology, according to BitMine Immersion Technologies, the world’s largest corporate Ether holder.
The first major driver for Ether may be “Wall Street running into the blockchain,” according to BitMine, the largest corporate holder of ETH.
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Despite the optimism around a potential supercycle, not all Wall Street participants are so bullish on Ether’s price trajectory.
US investment bank Citigroup has set a $4,300 year-end price target for Ether, which is significantly below ETH’s all-time high of $4,953, surpassed on Aug. 24.
“Current prices are above activity estimates, potentially driven by recent buying pressure and excitement over use-cases,” Citi wrote in a Monday note seen by Reuters.
Ether has risen by about 108% in the past six months and traded at $4,177 at the time of writing, TradingView data shows.
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AI agents seen as catalyst
BitMine sees the growing adoption of agentic artificial intelligence protocols as the second potential catalyst for an incoming Ethereum supercycle.
AI agents will require a “neutral platform” such as a public blockchain, which could bring more applications to Ethereum, the biggest smart contract platform.
“For AI to be really valuable, it has to be an economic actor. So AI agents have to be able to buy things and get money,” according to Ben Horowitz, co-founder and general partner at venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z).
“If you’re an AI, you’re not allowed to have a credit card,” said Horowitz in a Tuesday X post. “Crypto is like the economic network for AI,” he added.
“Credit cards don’t work as money for AI, so the logical thing, the internet native money is crypto.”
“While many things still are being built on Ethereum, that does not necessarily mean that Ethereum will be the biggest or most obvious winner if this prediction comes to be,” Nicolai Sondergaard, research analyst at crypto intelligence platform Nansen, told Cointelegraph. “Virtuals and other ‘agent AI’ have been built on Base, a decent bunch on Solana and also some that have their own chains.”
“As such, there is an increasing likelihood of competition across chains, rather than one chain reigning supreme,” he added.
AI agents are software programs designed to automate and execute specific tasks on behalf of users.
Autonomous onchain agents can interact with blockchain protocols, enabling functionalities such as trading, token swaps, portfolio management and engaging with decentralized finance platforms.
Some of the largest fintech firms are investing in AI agents. On Sept. 2, PayPal Ventures led a Series A funding round into decentralized AI infrastructure provider, Kite AI, raising $18 million to bring its cumulative funding to $33 million, Cointelegraph reported.
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