Should You Buy Ethereum Before the Next Crypto Bull Run?

Ethereum's (CRYPTO: ETH) price is down by 28% over the last three months, but that just means it could be priced at a discount for those who are willing to hold it until the next bull run in crypto.

Plenty can go wrong, and its future success can't be assumed. Still, the chain's recent and upcoming technical upgrades and integrations are converging in ways that make Ethereum hard to ignore before the next potential bull cycle. So should you buy it before the crypto market starts to heat up again?

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One of the chain's major problems appears to be solved

Gas fees -- the transaction costs that once made Ethereum unusable and incredibly frustrating for ordinary people trying to perform basic tasks on its chain -- have collapsed, and they probably won't be surging to unaffordable levels again, perhaps ever.

Since the Dencun upgrade in 2024 and the Pectra and Fusaka upgrades in 2025, the last three years have seen gas prices crater by more than 98%. A basic transfer now costs $0.01, with a token swap costing $0.25 on average, versus $200 for a token swap during the congested 2021 peak.

As costs are falling, capital is flocking to Ethereum for on-chain management.

The total value of tradeable tokenized real-world assets (RWA) -- stocks, commodities, Treasuries, and bonds that have had their ownership rights inscribed on crypto tokens -- has surged to about $29.2 billion across all chains in crypto, up from just $8.7 billion a year ago. Ethereum hosts over $16.2 billion of that value, and it's gaining more with every day.

Furthermore, with gas fees lower than ever, the chain is experimenting with infrastructure designed for higher-throughput applications. ERC-8004, a standard that's intended to provide the technical architecture for tracking the on-chain identity and reputation of autonomous AI agents, went live on the network in January. That places Ethereum at the AI-finance intersection while the opportunity is nascent, but likely to be very large in the near future.

Regulatory clarity is another big unlock

Another significant tailwind for Ethereum in the next crypto bull run is going to be having a semblance of regulatory clarity.

On March 17, the SEC and CFTC jointly classified 16 cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum, as digital commodities. The guidance also declared that staking is not a securities offering, which means Ethereum's staking projects (and their users) can now advance with the confidence that they won't be shut down.

Therefore, if a new bull run materializes, Ethereum thus has more favorable tailwinds and growth enablers converging than perhaps anything else in crypto. If you already have a diversified portfolio and you're looking to add some crypto exposure, it's a smart choice, and the upside from here could be significant over the next few years.

Alex Carchidi has positions in Ethereum. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Ethereum. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.