I think ETH with a target of $8k is the most viable to hit in a next bull cycle ahead. While the potential for a consolidation may not increase rapidly during a bear market, ETH will remain a major factor for the pumps as market requirements permit.
The merge - may not bring much attraction and heat at the moment but it is an incentive to accumulate more.
You are right, that you are predicting a realistic ETH price for the possibility of reaching the next bull cycle, out there is a lot of speculation that the ETH price will be high above $10k but it will not be easy to reach if the bitcoin price has not reached ATH it must be 2x higher than before.
It's true that when talking about altcoins, it can't be separated from the bitcoin pump. Likewise with ETH, bitcoin is the price reference to where, lower or higher to reach ATH. I also think that ETH has the most potential to reach the target set by the op. And apart from bitcoin, the second asset I have to own is ETH.
Yes, when the price of Bitcoin rises, it is immediately followed by an increase in the altcoin market,
and I think the opposite will also happen and that's what Bitcoin can be called a reference even though not all coins will experience the same thing,
if i may add one more that is BNB and the three coins are very good for long term investment