"Ethereum Supercycle"? Bulls "make grand promises," Wall Street remains skeptical

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The market’s optimistic expectations for the so-called "super cycle" have encountered a reality check, with Ethereum falling below the $4,000 mark. Although major Ethereum holders such as BitMine and other institutions are painting a bright outlook driven by large-scale adoption of blockchain technology and AI agent platforms on Wall Street, mainstream Wall Street institutions remain cautious.

Ethereum has continued to decline this week, briefly falling below $3,900 on Friday and is now quoted at $3,942, with a 24-hour drop of more than 3% and a weekly drop of over 11%, putting the brakes on its recent rally. This pullback has occurred as the market enthusiastically discusses the "super cycle" concept, highlighting the gap between bullish expectations and market reality.

Citi has set a year-end target price for Ethereum of just $4,300, much lower than the historical high of $4,953 set on August 24. In its research report on Monday, Citi said: The current price is above its valuation, possibly driven by recent buying pressure and excitement about potential use cases.

BitMine and other institutions previously predicted that increased institutional capital and popularization of Web3 trading products could break the traditional four-year Bitcoin halving cycle theory, pushing digital assets into an unprecedented "super cycle."

Wall Street Questions “Embracing Blockchain”

BitMine believes that “Wall Street’s embrace of blockchain” will be the primary catalyst for Ethereum’s super cycle. As the world’s largest institutional holder of Ethereum, the company expects that more institutional capital and trading products will make digital asset investment more widespread.

This view is based on the trend of increasing adoption of blockchain technology by Wall Street. Supporters believe that as more traditional financial institutions enter the cryptocurrency field, the market will see an influx of capital on an unprecedented scale.

In the past six months, the price of Ethereum has risen 87.94%, trading at $3,942 at the time of writing. However, mainstream Wall Street institutions have questioned the sustainability of this rally.

AI Agent Concept Sparks Controversy

BitMine regards the increasing popularity of autonomous artificial intelligence protocols as the second largest potential catalyst for Ethereum’s super cycle. The company believes that AI agents need a “neutral platform” like public blockchain, which may bring more applications to Ethereum, the largest smart contract platform.

Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz co-founder Ben Horowitz stated:

For AI to really be valuable, it has to be an economic participant. AI agents must be able to purchase goods and obtain funds. If you are AI, you cannot own a credit card. Cryptocurrency is like the economic network for AI.

However, Nansen research analyst Nicolai Sondergaard offered a cautious perspective. He told Cointelegraph: “While many projects are still being built on Ethereum, this does not necessarily mean that if this prediction comes true, Ethereum will be the largest or most obvious winner.”

Increased Competition Challenges Dominance

Sondergaard pointed out that Virtuals and other “agent AI” projects have already been developed on Base, and there are a considerable number of projects on Solana, as well as some with their own chains. Thus, the possibility of cross-chain competition is increasing, rather than a single chain becoming dominant.

AI agents are software programs designed to automate and execute specific tasks on behalf of users. Autonomous on-chain agents can interact with blockchain protocols to implement functions like trading, token swaps, portfolio management, and interaction with decentralized finance platforms.

Some large fintech companies are investing in the AI agent field. On September 2, PayPal Ventures led the Series A funding round for decentralized AI infrastructure provider Kite AI, raising $18 million and bringing its total funding to $33 million.

Risk Warning and DisclaimerThe market has risks; investment should be cautious. This article does not constitute individual investment advice and does not take into account individual users’ specific investment objectives, financial situation, or needs. Users should consider whether any opinions, views, or conclusions in this article are suitable for their particular circumstances. Invest at your own risk. ```