Ethereum can do it. In fact, a $5k Ethereum is possible.
Smart contracts are a true killer feature. Something that can change the world. Nobody has any idea of all the possible applications of a such disruptive technology. We have seen p2p loans, digital decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), and ICOs, but it is only the beginning.
But the price of a cryptocurrency coin is not very important. The important factor is the market cap (the total number of coins multiplied by their price).
There are 21 million of BTC and 96 million of ETH.
Imagine that instead of using Ethereum we where using kEthereum. With 1 kEthereum = 1000 Ethereum.
In this case, a kEthereum would be 464 000 dollars. And there would be only 96 000 kEthereums.
We now have a very expensive currency, but nothing has changed.
The individual price of a coin don’t matter. What matter is the total market cap.
Nobody think that 42-coin is a success. But a 42-coin is 21 000 dollar. And today its well above $40k.
Whey, because there is only 42 coins (that is the idea of 42-coin).