Bitcoin (BTC) has kicked off the week on a high, bouncing back from nearly a week-long decline and finally surpassing the $112,000 mark.
Despite this renewed vigor, Bitcoin now faces significant competition as several altcoins are also experiencing gains ahead of potential exchange-traded fund (ETF) announcements in the coming weeks.
With this context in mind, Finbold consulted OpenAI’s latest artificial intelligence model, ChatGPT-5, to pinpoint two cryptocurrencies that could potentially challenge Bitcoin by 2026.
Ethereum (ETH)
The AI’s top choice was Ethereum (ETH), renowned for its extensive use in smart contracts across decentralized finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and tokenization sectors.
The primary threat Ethereum poses to Bitcoin is its dual role as both a store of value through staking and a utility token—capabilities that Bitcoin lacks, according to ChatGPT.
Although Ethereum might be showing declines on monthly charts at present, it has outperformed its rival year-to-date with approximately 25% growth compared to “digital gold’s” 20% increase.
The AI presents a compelling argument for ETH’s potential dominance over BTC in the future due to recent advancements and regulatory clarity surrounding Ethereum.
This optimistic outlook is echoed by analysts like Fundstrat’s Tom Lee who forecasted that ETH could reach between $10,000–$12,000 by year-end—a projection indicating up to 200% growth.
As of now, Ethereum trades at $4,171, marking an increase of 3.76% today.
Solana (SOL)
