Right now Eth does have a value of $ 173 and this is a good increase, the increase will not be far and will run slowly. As coins that have position 2 in CMC will certainly continue to maintain it, the community will continue to survive and continue to look for investors to continue to make it more alive and valuable.
Ethereum is really recovering and before ripple takes it place as the second coins but ethereum over take it again. I believe that ethereum like most of the other altcoins are currently undervalued and if you desire to make money from ethereum gain in future then now should be the right time to invest and make money in future.
I hold some ETH. But today I don't see a really good application for Ethereum coin exclude as a platform for past ICO and engine for their ideas. Nothing more. As launching pad while they don't have own blockchain or don't change for more quick and responsive blockchain. It's sad but imho