I think Ian McLeod Ethereum Price Prediction 2019 of $500 is more realistic if we are to based on how the price move, second quarter is coming and the price is still moving slowly even though the hard fork is already over, there's still big news for Ethereum that will make the price go higher than $500.
I agree with you, $500 is more realistic price for ethereum for this year. Today Ethereum price icrease to $180 but i think this increase is very slow.