To analyze the possibility of Cardano achieving $200 or closer, lets compare it with Ethereum. According to the founder of Cardano (also co-founder of Ethereum), Charles Hoskinson, the Cardano upgrade in September will enable the Cardano blockchain to process smart contracts, self-executing agreements between buyers and sellers that have helped Ethereum dominate the booming decentralised finance industry (Forbes).
Ethereum being the early bird as regards smart contracts and deploying dApps made a massive gain in value form around $300 as at May/June, 2020 to about $3.394 the current price (as at 13th September, 2021).
Though, Ethereum is an early bird but Cardano have strong advantages over Ethereum at the moment:
(1) Ethereum is uses proof-of-work and is curently working towards being proof-of-stake (Ethereum 2.0);
(2) Cardano requires less energy than Ethereum to process transactions - according to Hoskinson;
(3) Speed of transaction – Cardano is faster than Ethereum (
https://blockchainreporter.net/the-difference-between-cardano-and-ethereum-networks/); (4) Compared with Ethereum, Cardano provides more scalable transactions, larger than many blockchain protocols in the cryptocurrency space.
Cardano has skyrocketed 1,300% this year alone, making it the best-performing top five cryptocurrency. Currently, Cardano is number 3 on Coinmarketcap. Ethereum 2.0 was introduced in order to end the issues of network congestion. Cardano, since launch, has leveraged the Proof of Stake method and, as such, was ahead of ETH. I read an article describing the Ethereum 2.0 -saying that it is like repairing a car while in motion.
Ethereum as the early bird already have many DApps deployed on its blockchain. Ethereum, within a year plus (May/June 2020 - September 2021), rose from about $300 to $3,394).
While $200 goal for Cardano will take some time to achieve, I think Cardano can attain up to $5 - $10 in a year or 2 depending on the number of DApps on its blockchain, etc. (personal opinion).