• Ether could rise as much as 300% by the end of the year, according to Real Vision co-founder Raoul Pal.
• Pal tweeted on Wednesday that ether now is comparable to bitcoin in 2017 when BTC rose by that amount. 
• Ether has seen all-time highs recently, as non-fungible token and metaverse momentum has grown.

Raoul Pal, a co-founder of financial content provider Real Vision, said on Wednesday he could see ether rallying by as much as 300% into the year end from its current level around $4,100 right now.

The native token of the ethereum network is on course for a stellar year. So far in 2021, it's gained almost 500%, compared to the roughly 100% rise in the value of bitcoin. Ethereum's faster transaction speeds, lower fees and versatility in running anything from decentralized finance applications to hosting non-fungible tokens has made ether hugely popular among investors. Some say it could eventually overtake bitcoin in terms of market capitalization, in an event known as "flippening"

Pal, a huge crypto bull who has over 700,000 followers, is even more enthusiastic on ether's prospects. He compared the potential gains over the final weeks of this year to those in bitcoin back in 2017, when it soared by 150% between mid-November and the end of the year's then-record just below $20,000.

"Now, I don't expect perfection but with all the other analysis I have done, something like a 100% to 300% rally is highly probable into (the) year end. Nothing is (certain). Pal said in a tweet on Wednesday. 

"After that, it's a tougher call but I think it possibly elongates and sees significantly higher prices."

Bitcoin started 2017 at around $1,000. It rallied around 200% from about mid-November to the year-end. Its bull run didn't last at that time. After brushing $20,000 in January, it rapidly sold off, losing nearly 70% in a month. 

"I have been showing this spooky chart of ETH now vs BTC in 2017 in various forms. This is my live CIX on Bloomberg.... even nailed this sell off....to the day and price. What happened next? A 300% rally. From tomorrow (ish)," Pal said. 

Pal was comparing bitcoin's price performance throughout those final weeks of 2017, overlaid with an analysis of ether's price performance this year.

Ether hit a record just below $4,900 last week. A boom in the NFT market - essentially digital collectible items, as well as play-to-earn blockchain-based games, such as Axie Infinity, have lured billions of dollars of investment. With the advent of the metaverse - a virtual immersive world - even more people are likely to invest in products that run on ethereum itself, or rival networks, such as solana or avalanche.