Can Ethereum Reach $25,000 in 2026? Bullish Executive Told To ‘Pay Up’ After Missing Predi

January 4, 2026

Kurt Robson

4 min read

Ethereum price missed the $25,000 target set in a high-profile executive bet, reigniting debate over whether ETH can reach that level by 2026. | Credit: Gemini.

Key Takeaways

High-profile crypto price bets are proving costly.
Despite optimism, Ethereum ended the year lower.
Public wagers underscore crypto’s cultural shift.

Ethereum investors are once again debating lofty price targets after a high-profile wager by a crypto executive expired out of the money, highlighting how optimism about ETH’s price has repeatedly outpaced reality.

Founder of Infinex, Kain Warwick, is preparing to settle a $50,000 bet after predicting Ethereum would reach $25,000 by the end of 2025 — ultimately failing the bet by over 700%.

The two execs struck the bet last year amid renewed enthusiasm that Ethereum was poised for a sharp rebound.

The wager originated from a public exchange between Warwick and Kyle Samani, managing partner of Multicoin Capital, who questioned whether ETH could realistically recover quickly enough to reach the $25,000 level.

Warwick initially took the opposite side at 9-to-1 odds, but both parties later agreed to 10-to-1.

“Time to pay up,” Samani wrote on X on Wednesday, after Ethereum failed to reach the target.

Warwick later acknowledged the outcome of the wager, but noted a cheeky technical dispute over how the payment should be settled.

“Good morning sir, I have your USDT,” Warwick responded.

Warwick said he respected Samani’s request for the funds to be sent via the Solana blockchain to the address kylesamani.sol, but added that he was requesting an alternative destination.

“I’m contractually obligated to request a Solana address on Infinex as the destination,” Warwick wrote.

At the time of reporting, Ethereum was trading at around $3,047.

The missed bet has reignited discussion about whether Ethereum could still reach such levels later in the decade, with some investors now shifting the timeline to 2026 and beyond.

To assess whether the bullish call is plausible, CCN asked OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Elon Musk’s Grok for their views on Ethereum’s price prospects.

ChatGPT warned that price targets far above Ethereum’s historical highs would require more than incremental improvements in sentiment or regulation.

“Ethereum is already a mature asset with deep liquidity, broad awareness, and a multi-year track record,” the model said.

According to ChatGPT, such a repricing would depend on clear evidence that Ethereum’s role in global finance is expanding at scale.

“To justify a multi-trillion-dollar valuation, Ethereum would need sustained growth in on-chain activity, real revenue from transaction fees, and measurable institutional reliance on the network,” it said.

Grok took a more skeptical stance, questioning whether expectations for a $25,000 Ether underestimate the asset’s current maturity.

“This is what happens when investors extrapolate narratives instead of fundamentals,” Grok said. “Ethereum isn’t early-stage anymore. It’s already priced as critical infrastructure.”

The chatbot argued that catalysts such as spot ETFs, scaling upgrades, or increased staking participation may improve access and efficiency, but do not guarantee explosive price growth.

“ETFs improve distribution. Upgrades improve throughput. Neither forces the market to triple Ethereum’s valuation overnight,” it wrote.

Grok added that Ethereum’s long trading history could act as a constraint rather than a tailwind.

“Betting on a 7x or 8x move assumes the market has fundamentally misunderstood Ethereum’s value for nearly a decade,” it said. “That’s a bold assumption.”

While Grok stopped short of predicting a collapse, it cautioned that ambitious price targets often emerge near periods of stagnation rather than acceleration.

“Markets don’t reward hope indefinitely,” it concluded.

Technical analysis is also pointing away from bullish predictions.

Victor Olanrewaju, an analyst at CCN, said Ethereum remains vulnerable to further downside pressure in the near term.

“Despite the uncertainty surrounding Bitcoin’s recent on-chain movements, Ethereum’s price still appears exposed to additional downside risk,” Olanrewaju said.

One key concern, he noted, is rising exchange reserves.