Ethereum (ETH) Investor Ryan Berckmans Believes Real-World Adoption Is the Key to Reaching $20,000

Ethereum investor Ryan Berckmans believes that real-world adoption is the key to ETH reaching $20000. He asserts that high token prices don't necessarily require a strong appreciation of the underlying value but are actually sufficient in real life.

Ethereum investor Ryan Berckmans believes that real-world adoption is the key to ETH reaching $20,000.

At least not direct public confidence for a high token price. Otherwise, how can BTC exist today with 99.999% of its usage being centralized and doesn't even directly contribute to Bitcoin's value?

This is the question that many have been asking as the price of ETH has struggled to maintain momentum in recent months. However, Berckmans thinks that the answer is simple: we need to see more real-world growth in the Ethereum ecosystem.

"For ETH, the answer is simply more real-world growth. Trust in the platform is a strong appreciation driver, with high fee levels typically being matched with increased faith in the network."

According to Berckmans, it's impossible for ETH to reach the desired price without restoring high total fees. Even if we had $1 trillion of stablecoins on Ethereum's L1, which would be a huge confidence booster, it would still lead to increased fees.

"This clearly wasn't sustainable and ultimately led to decreased trust in the platform as investors saw the token price fall despite strong public chain activity. Ultimately, we need to return to an environment where there's sufficient fee value accrual to sustain the required public confidence for a high token price."

To achieve sustainable growth, we need to see further L1 uses, increased distribution of L1 assets to the L2s, and a diversity of L2 solutions.

"We also need more cross-L2 services. For example, Aztec's privacy offerings are a prime example of the potential for adding value. Instead of trying to change the economics of the L2 for the purpose of earning greater fees, I'm personally more convinced that real-world growth is the only sustainable direction."

We must also ensure that the increasing activity of the L1 apps and the L2s have sufficient block space on the L1. Future improvements, such as extra “blobs” for transactions for the L2s, should lower the cost but not the efficiency.

"It's about encouraging developers to make useful implementations that increase the scope of Ethereum. In this way, we can promote growth and growth of usage organically."

This year marks the ten-year anniversary of the Ethereum mainnet, and Berckmans notes that the network has traveled a great distance but has much further ahead of it.

Ethereum is the most capitalized blockchain by application, but it will have to scale dramatically if it is going to become the dominant one on the planet. A strategic shift toward real-world builder culture and economic growth efforts will be required.

"We're not suffering from a problem of value accrual, but rather one of growth. Growth is something that the network must prioritize, which will naturally propel high fees with increasing usage. By keeping utility at the center, ETH can position itself as the leading blockchain, ensuring that ETH hits its full potential and reaches the $20,000 level."