Ether's Rise to Record Highs May Propel Cryptocurrency to $10.5K: Fundstrat Global

Even after setting a new record high of $1,439 on Monday, the rally for Ethereum's ether cryptocurrency may have only just begun, according to Fundstrat Global Advisors strategist David Grider.

Basing his prediction partly on use cases for Ethereum's blockchain technology, Grider wrote in a note Tuesday that ether has scope for a rally to $10,500, according to Bloomberg. That's an over seven-fold rise from the current price of $1,320.

"Ether is the best risk/reward investment play in crypto,” Grider said, adding that “blockchain computing may be the future of the cloud."

Grider sees bullish pressure stemming from the second-largest cryptocurrency's growing role as the underlying infrastructure for the decentralized finance (or DeFi) space, which witnessed explosive growth in 2020. Ethereum is also eyeing transaction processing ability to rival card payment giants with a major network upgrade, per the report.

Also read: Ethereum’s Ether Cryptocurrency Sets New All-Time Price High Near $1,440

Ethereum launched its Beacon chain in December, kicking off a three-part series of transitions aimed at building a blockchain capable of handling an entire financial system.

However, any delay in the impending upgrades could hurt ether's price, Grider said. Risks to the rally prediction include setbacks for the network upgrade or a crypto bear market.