Yes, you are right. ETH is a smart choice for many things that make it very attractive to have even though sometimes the price is fluktuatif. I hope to feel like a few years ago holding ethereum at the price of $ 1500 like you said, hopefully will it repeat.
I have a strong feeling that Ethereum will have another all-time high, the POS is the one that's going to help them achieved it, I don't see it not reaching another all-time high while Bitcoin, is going for another all-time high possibly this year, Both Bitcoin and Ethereum are the parameters if we are in a bull run.
I don't believe that ethereum could ever hit its all-time high again, but after the PoS I think its going to be less dependent on bitcoin and probably could even influence the bitcoin on its own