Eric Jackson, a founder of his fund EMJ Capital, says Ether could one day skyrocket to $1.5 million. Jackson’s outlook arrives as US spot Ether ETFs have generated $1.41 billion in ETF volume. He believes the real catalyst for Ether is still ahead: staking approval, expected before October.

Jackson said all of these things in an interview with Fortune’s Term Sheet editor, Ulysses Nansen. He further predicted that Ether’s future surging prices “will surprise all of them.”

Bull and Base Case Scenarios

Jackson’s firm very bullishly believes Ether could exceed positive expectations on the new staking approval likely coming before October. His “base case” for Ether is $10,000 by the end of this cycle. He places the top of the current bull run as ending in March 2026.

Jackson thinks that if the integration of those factors occurs, it would probably render Ether “a 100-bagger." He expresses skepticism that decentralized finance or stablecoins will produce any winners of note. He thinks adoption on Robinhood and Coinbase’s layer 2s will stay modest.

Jackson said if traders believe in the continued growth of firms that use the blockchain and that "some part of commerce stays in crypto and moves away from fiat, then you believe in Ether."

"some part of commerce stays in crypto and moves away from fiat, then you believe in ETH" - Eric Jackson

Staking Approval as a Catalyst

Jackson states that many wrongly believe Ether has priced in approval of the US ETFs as they’ve "been a big bust" compared to Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs. US spot Bitcoin ETFs have seen $6.9 billion in traded volume. He believes the real catalyst for Ether is still ahead: staking approval, expected before October.

"The real catalyst is still ahead: staking approval, expected before October" - Eric Jackson

Far beyond its current applications, Ether could easily find a place as a financial security, Jackson says. He opines that if Ether achieves dominance as the main medium of commerce, its price would increase exponentially.

Long-Term Potential

Jackson underscores the importance of winning approval for Ether ETFs. Furthermore, he argues, this move would make Ether a first-rate institutional yield product.

"If this conversion to ETH commerce truly happens (and I believe it will), then ETH goes to $1.5M over time" - Eric Jackson

Jackson emphasizes the importance of staking approval for Ether ETFs, suggesting it could transform Ether into an institutional-grade yield product.