Could Ethereum "surpass" Bitcoin? Here are the views of notable figures.

Whether referred to as “disruption” or “reversal”, most people call the concept of Ethereum’s market capitalization surpassing Bitcoin’s as a “flippening”.

The question is, with the price of ETH soaring above $4300 and approaching the historical high of $4878, is a “flippening” really possible?

Will Ethereum eventually replace Bitcoin’s “crown”?

The current market capitalization of Ethereum is approximately $500 billion, while Bitcoin’s market capitalization is nearly five times that, reaching $2.3 trillion. Nevertheless, individuals like Ethereum co-founder Joe Lubin are optimistic about this in recent times.

“I believe some amazing things will happen in about a year,” Lubin said on CNBC regarding the possibility of ETH surpassing BTC in market capitalization.

In a CNBC interview on July 30, Lubin mentioned that the growth of publicly traded cryptocurrency reserve companies is one of the catalysts for this potential trend. SharpLink Gaming, under Lubin, currently holds a reserve of 521,939 Ether.

However, many fund managers and investment professionals do not think so.

“As for the ‘flippening’, we believe it will not happen,” said Jeff Embry, managing partner of the crypto fund Globe 3 Capital. “ETH faces significant obstacles to surpass BTC, and the value drivers of both will keep BTC in the lead.”

Many people look for historical references through the ETH/BTC trading pair.

During the bull market in 2017, the ETH/BTC ratio was approximately 0.1475 BTC/ETH, which means that at the peak of the ratio, the price of ETH was about 14.75% of BTC.

The current ETH/BTC ratio is 0.03532 BTC/ETH, which is only 3.6% of the BTC price. However, this ratio may still have room for growth, which could amplify future discussions about any potential “flip”.

“Since hitting a low in April 2025, the ETH-BTC spread has been heavily bought, and I believe there is still further upside potential,” said Jean-Marc Bonnefous, managing partner of the crypto-focused fund Tellurian Capital. “Some hedge funds previously shorted the ETH-BTC spread, and with the new ETH treasury company making large purchases, these funds were forced to close their positions, further amplifying this rebound.”

Ethereum reserve companies (such as Bitmine Immersion Technologies under Tom Lee, Nasdaq code: BMNR) are driving up the value of ETH. The company is the publicly listed company with the most ETH, currently holding 833,133 ETH.

Lee recently predicted that the price of ETH will reach $16,000, which could bring the asset close to the price ratio record with Bitcoin from 2017.

However, the fundamental technology of ETH that attracts Wall Street’s attention may not be sufficient to push its price beyond BTC.

“In the next five years, we need to see a strong positive impact from RWA and tokenized government bonds, along with AI, gaming, and sovereign infrastructure all operating on Ethereum, for it to be possible,” pointed out Chris Thomas from multi-partner crypto consulting firm Lake Capital. “But even based on this data, the price of ETH might only reach $30,000 to $50,000… and by then, Bitcoin is likely to have surged 7 to 10 times again.”

It is important to note that while the price of ETH is rising, Bitcoin may also continue to rise. The supply dynamics of ETH are different from Bitcoin’s famous fixed supply.

“In terms of the price of a single ETH, it is unlikely to exceed the price of a single Bitcoin,” said Steve Chen, founder of blockchain accelerator BAIK Ventures. “Bitcoin has a total supply cap of 21 million coins. ETH does not have a hard total supply cap, and although there is a burning mechanism, the amount of ETH in circulation is still large.”

According to CoinGecko data, the current circulating supply of ETH is 120 million coins. Unlike Bitcoin’s fixed supply of 21 million coins, Ethereum does not have a hard supply cap.

In contrast, the Ethereum network destroys transaction fees known as gas in its proof-of-stake consensus mechanism. In Bitcoin, transaction fees are distributed as rewards to proof-of-work miners.

In addition, there are significant differences in the roles and uses of BTC and ETH, making it difficult to make a “peer-to-peer” comparison between these two distinctly different networks.

Nevertheless, the narrative battle and price competition between BTC and ETH will continue to heat up. As the crypto regulatory environment turns favorable in 2025, the demand for both will remain high.

“BTC has a first-mover advantage and remains a core digital gold asset,” added Bonnefous of Tellurian Capital. “However, I expect ETH to experience a significant rebound, as it has been oversold in the past few months.”