Key Takeaways:
BitMine, the world’s largest corporate Ether holder, says Wall Street adoption could spark an Ethereum “supercycle.”
AI-driven agents are seen as another major catalyst, requiring crypto as “internet-native money.”
Citigroup tempers expectations, setting a $4,300 year-end ETH target—below its all-time high of $4,953.
Ethereum’s recent rally has reignited debate over whether the crypto market could be entering its first-ever “supercycle,” breaking away from the traditional four-year boom-and-bust cycle tied to Bitcoin halvings.
At the heart of this speculation is Wall Street’s accelerating adoption of blockchain products and the rise of AI-powered agents that may increasingly rely on crypto networks to transact.
Wall Street Runs Into the Blockchain
According to BitMine Immersion Technologies, the largest corporate holder of Ether (ETH), Wall Street’s growing involvement in blockchain could mark a pivotal turning point for the cryptocurrency market.
“Wall Street running into the blockchain” is the first major driver for Ether, the firm argued, citing the explosion of crypto ETFs and institutional trading products.
Despite this bullish narrative, some traditional finance players remain cautious. Citigroup set a $4,300 year-end price target for ETH, warning in a client note that current prices are “above activity estimates” and may be fueled more by buying pressure and speculation than sustainable adoption.
ETH has gained more than 108% in the past six months, trading near $4,173 at press time, according to TradingView data.
AI Agents as a Catalyst for Ethereum
The second factor BitMine highlights is the emergence of agentic AI platforms, which could require Ethereum’s public blockchain as a neutral, trustless economic base.
Ben Horowitz, co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), explained the logic in a recent X post:
“For AI to be really valuable, it has to be an economic actor. AI agents have to be able to buy things and get money. Credit cards don’t work as money for AI, so the logical thing—the internet-native money—is crypto.”
Autonomous AI agents can already interact with decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms to trade tokens, manage portfolios, and perform transactions onchain.
On Sept. 2, PayPal Ventures led an $18 million Series A round in decentralized AI infrastructure firm Kite AI, underscoring fintech’s growing interest in combining AI with blockchain.
The Road Ahead for ETH
While Ethereum bulls tout a convergence of institutional adoption and AI-driven growth, skeptics argue that expectations of a supercycle may be premature.
If ETH sustains momentum above key levels, proponents see the token eventually breaking its all-time high of $4,953 and extending gains well beyond traditional market cycle timing.
But for now, Wall Street banks like Citi warn that Ethereum’s valuation may already be running ahead of fundamentals, suggesting that the “supercycle” narrative will be tested in the months ahead, according to Cointelegraph.
