Category Archives: Ethereum
Ethereum (ETH) Price Prediction for March 3 TradingView News – TradingView
The last day of the week is about to end bullish for the cryptocurrency market, according to CoinStats.ETH chart byCoinStats
ETHUSD
The rate of Ethereum ETHUSD has increased by 0.3% over the last 24 hours.Image byTradingView
On the hourly chart, the price of ETH is the middle of the local channel between the support at $3,365 and the resistance at $3,448.
As most of the daily ATR has been passed, any sharp moves are unlikely to happen today. In this regard, consolidation around the $3,400 zone is the more likely scenario.Image byTradingView
On the daily time frame, the situation is quite similar. The rate of the main altcoin is far from the resistance. Traders may only expect an ongoing rise if the bar returns to the $3,480 zone.Image byTradingView
From the midterm point of view, Ethereum ETHUSD has almost touched the $3,582 level. However, one should focus on the candle closure. If it happens above it and with no long wicks, the upward move may lead to a test of the $3,600-$3,700 area this month.
Ethereum is trading at $3,428 at press time.
View post:
Ethereum (ETH) Price Prediction for March 3 TradingView News - TradingView
3 Cryptos With Tenfold Growth Potential by 2026 – InvestorPlace
These digital assets are rallying hard right now as investors pile back into crypto
Cryptocurrencies areback in a big way, and now is a good time to look for cryptos with growth potential. After enduring a brutal downturn throughout 2022, digital coins and tokens rallied hard last fall and that momentum has carried into the new year. So far in 2024, the largest cryptocurrencies are up more than 40% each, outpacing the 8% year-to-date gain in the benchmarkS&P 500index and the 10% increase in the technology-ladenNasdaqindex. With many of the leading cryptos approaching their all-time highs, analysts have been revising their price predictions whileprominent investorscontinue to load up on digital assets. Many market observers expect the outperformance in crypto to carry on, fueled bymultiple catalyststhat are coming in the near term. Here are three cryptos with tenfold growth potential by 2026.
Source: shutterstock.com/BT Side
The price ofEthereum(ETH-USD) has risen 50% in the last month and is nearing $3,500. ETH is currently at its highest level since April 2022. The current rally has been sparked by excitement related to the upcoming approval of spotEthereum exchange-traded funds(ETFs). Ethereums surge since the start of February has outpaced all other cryptocurrencies, includingBitcoin(BTC-USD), according to market data. Over the past 12 months, Ethereums price has more than doubled, rising 120%.
The price of Ethereum has been climbing on expectations that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will approve spot Ethereum ETFs by this summer. The Wall Street regulator approved spot Bitcoin ETFs for the American market in January and now faces a deadline at the end of May to approve similar Ethereum ETFs. Analysts see ETF approval asa major potential catalystfor Ethereum as it would allow people and institutions to invest in the crypto without having to physically own the tokens.
Source: Sittipong Phokawattana / Shutterstock.com
Speaking of Bitcoin, the new crop of spot ETFs has attracted massive amounts of capital in a little more than a month since their approval, with some funds seeing inflows of more than $2 billion. After a brief dip immediately after the SEC approved the spot ETFs in January, the price of BTC has been surging as well, having risen 45% in the past month. At $62,000, Bitcoin is closing in on its all-time high of just below $69,000 reached in November 2021. Many analysts see theprice topping $100,000by years end.
While the ETFs have served as a big catalyst for Bitcoin, the largest crypto by market cap has another upcoming catalyst in the form ofa halving eventthats scheduled to take place this April. A halving event occurs every four years, with the rewards for mining Bitcoin literally cut in half. Past halving events have led to big jumps in the price of BTC, and crypto bulls are expecting another huge rally this spring. Since bottoming under $16,500 in December 2022, Bitcoins price has nearly quadrupled.
Source: Postmodern Studio / Shutterstock.com
For a crypto that has outpaced both Bitcoin and Ethereum over the past year, look toSolana(SOL-USD). The smaller digital token has seen itsprice rise more than 500%in the last 12 months to trade at $129, its highest level since April 2022. In the past month, the price of SOL has gained 32% and shows no signs of slowing down. Sharing many of the same characteristics as Ethereum, Solana is one of the more practical cryptos to own as it has real utility and helps to facilitate decentralized finance (DeFi) transactions.
However, many crypto bulls prefer Solana over ETH and claim that it is the superior cryptocurrency given that it can execute much larger DeFi transactions at much faster speeds than Ethereum. SOL can process 50,000 DeFi transactions per second compared to 13 transactions per second that can be processed by Ethereum. Investors also continue to expect big things from Solana Pay, a direct transaction between merchants and consumers that charges zero fees.
On the date of publication, Joel Baglole did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
Joel Baglole has been a business journalist for 20 years. He spent five years as a staff reporter at The Wall Street Journal, and has also written for The Washington Post and Toronto Star newspapers, as well as financial websites such as The Motley Fool and Investopedia.
Read the original:
3 Cryptos With Tenfold Growth Potential by 2026 - InvestorPlace
Bitcoin spooked by highs, Ethereum still climbing – Dubai Chronicle
The cryptocurrency market is building capitalisation towards the 24-hour level, but its a relatively modest +0.6% to $2.51 trillion. Thats close to, but still below Tuesdays highs.
Bitcoin briefly topped $69K on Tuesday, setting a new all-time high, but has since corrected by more than 15%.
The size, speed and nature of the decline indicate a desire for weak hands to exit Bitcoin. At its lowest point, the price fell below $59K due to large orders that the market was unable to quickly digest. Excluding this spike, we can assume that the price fell to $62K last weeks consolidation area wiping out all the recent gains.
We saw these 15% corrections for a long time after the first update of the highs in the last cycle in 2020. Its worth bracing for up to several weeks of consolidation in the 15-20% range.
Many altcoins have pulled back significantly from recent highs, looking back at BTC. But not Ethereum, which hit new highs since January 2022 at $3865 on Wednesday morning. The second most important cryptocurrency very quickly crossed the key $3500 threshold (161.8% of the year-end rally and local April 2022 high). According to the Fibonacci model, the next upside target is the 261.8% level, which is just above $4600 and close to historical highs.
News background Ethereums cumulative stakes have surpassed $117 billion. Ethereum validators have blocked more than 31.5 million ETH in stakes, according to The Block. The total ETH supply is around 120 million coins with a capitalisation of ~$450 billion, so around 26% of the asset issuance is involved in securing the network.
The SEC has delayed a decision on BlackRock and Fidelitys spot Ethereum ETFs. The commission will continue to gather comments from the public. Experts are divided on when the regulator will make a positive decision on Ethereum ETFs.
Over the past 90 days, investors have invested the equivalent of 133,000 BTC in various regulated bitcoin products. Their total assets under management (AuM) rose to 1 million BTC, according to ByteTree. Outflows from gold and bond-based ETFs accompanied the trend.
Michael van de Poppe, founder of MN Trading, pointed out that this is the first time in history that a new ATN has been reached before rather than after a halving.
The upcoming halving in April will reduce the daily mining of new bitcoins from 900 BTC to 450 BTC, which will affect trading strategies, market cycles and mining, according to Glassnode. Historically, halves have preceded bullish rallies. Heavy buying of spot bitcoin ETFs could add to the increased demand.
Deutsche Brse has launched an institutional-focused regulated platform for spot trading, settlement and custody of cryptocurrency assets, Deutsche Brse Digital Exchange (DBDX). Settlement and custody services will be provided by Crypto Finance (Deutschland), a BaFin-licensed subsidiary.
Go here to see the original:
Bitcoin spooked by highs, Ethereum still climbing - Dubai Chronicle
Why Bitcoin, Ethereum and Dogecoin Are Trending Higher Today – The Motley Fool
It's been a wild and wacky few days in the cryptocurrency world. Megacap tokens are seeing continued volatility, with Bitcoin (BTC 8.12%), Ethereum (ETH 12.64%) and Dogecoin (DOGE 13.83%) still up materially from yesterday's close (4 p.m. ET). These three tokens rose 2.8%, 3.8%, and 12.9%, respectively, over this time frame, as of 1:45 p.m. ET.
Now, these increases are markedly lower than the previous increases these tokens saw during yesterday's session. Bitcoin, largely viewed as the benchmark for the entire sector, surged to a multiyear high of more than $63,000 per token yesterday, before giving up a good chunk of these gains. Currently, Bitcoin continues to hover around the $60,500 level, still substantially higher than the $45,000 level the token started the year at and the sub-$20,000 level investors saw late last year.
Let's dive into what's driving this positive price momentum among these three megacap tokens today.
Bitcoin's run toward its record price (nearly $69,000 per token in late 2021) has been remarkable. Initial interest around the world's largest cryptocurrency following the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs by the Securities and Exchange Commission gave way to selling pressure, due to a range of factors, including FTX's liquidation of assets in a bid to make investors whole. However, a turn of events has materialized, with capital flows into spot Bitcoin ETFs surging more than $7 billion over the past two months, as institutional investors jump on digital assets in a manner reminiscent of the previous bull market rally.
Investors banking on a supply/demand dislocation in terms of Bitcoin have been proven right, with momentum driving additional interest in leveraged products such as perpetual contracts, which traders and speculators can use to bet on short-term spikes in a token's price. Notably, the funding rate for Bitcoin perpetual futures hit the highest level since the last bull market peak in 2021. This signals there's plenty of speculative capital being put to work, in addition to the billions of dollars of institutional capital flowing into Bitcoin alone.
For even more speculative assets such as Dogecoin, these sorts of trends are very bullish, and are a key reason why we're seeing even greater moves in meme tokens. Dogecoin's price action has largely depended on broader sentiment in this sector. And with Bitcoin remaining the benchmark asset others are valued against, a rising tide appears to be lifting all boats.
Additionally, speculation around when spot Ethereum ETFs could be introduced is building. If the wave of capital hitting Bitcoin flows into Ethereum as well, investors could be due for big upside. Accordingly, the market is doing what it does best, and discounting these potential catalysts ahead of time, with Ethereum getting to multiyear highs on this sector-wide momentum as well.
If many investors were asked yesterday if Bitcoin were to hit an all-time high this year, the answer would likely have been a resounding yes. And given the fact that the world's largest crypto is now within 15% of its all-time high, there's certainly something to this thesis. I wouldn't be surprised if this period of consolidation we're seeing today gives way to another rally in the coming days or weeks that takes Bitcoin and its megacap counterparts near, or above, all-time highs.
Long-term investors who have stuck with megacap tokens through the 2022 and 2023 bear market period have been rewarded. Now, the question is how much profit-taking will take place at current levels, and whether institutional capital flows and speculative activity can be enough to push these tokens over the top. Certainly, these are three tokens every investor needs to watch closely right now.
More:
Why Bitcoin, Ethereum and Dogecoin Are Trending Higher Today - The Motley Fool
Active Users On Ethereum Layer 2s Surges To New Highs – The Defiant – DeFi News
Roughly 3.5 million users were active on Ethereum Layer 2s over the past seven days.
The number of active users within Ethereums Layer 2 ecosystem is surging to new all-time highs.
Ethereum L2s hosted activity from nearly3.5 millionunique wallets between Feb. 26 and March 3, according to data from GrowThePie. The number of weekly active Layer 2 users has now grown 788% since opening 2023 at 386,393.
The milestone marked the third week ever that Layer 2s hosted more than 3 million active users, beating out the previous weeks record of 3.12 million.
Data from L2beat also shows the combined throughput of Layer 2s trending between 107.5 transactions per second (TPS) and 125.6 TPS over the same period marking the strongest activity on record excluding the current all-time high of 152 TPS and Dec. 16 and 131.9 TPS on Feb. 25.
For comparison, the Ethereum mainnet hosted between 13.7 TPS and 14.3 TPS.
The unprecedented activity highlights the success of Ethereums rollup-centricscaling roadmap, which hasprioritizedfacilitating high throughput and cheap transactions on Layer 2 instead of trying to achieve such on Ethereums mainnet base layer.
But the spike in Layer 2 transactions has been accompanied by rising fees, which are up by between 100% and 320% across the five most active L2s.
However, Ethereums highly-anticipatedDencun upgrade, which is scheduled to go live on March 13, is expected to drive a significant reduction in the costs of transacting on Layer 2 by replacing calldata with Binary Large Objects (blobs). Traders punting on a Polymarket prediction market are currentlybettingthat blobs will be more than 98% cheaper to produce than calldata.
ZkSync Era continued to rank as the top by active users, hosting a record of 948,400 unique wallets last week. Arbitrum came second with 580,360 users, followed by Linea with 417,500, and OP Mainnet with 284,900.
Notably, ZkSync was the sole L2 to host a greater number of wallets than were active across multiple Layer 2s, with 944,300 users transacting on more than one Layer 2. However, the networks stats are likely bolstered byairdrop opportunistsseeking to maximize their activity across the ZkSync ecosystem in a bid to qualify for any future token drops from the project.
Linea, the rollup from Consensys, the prominent Ethereum software developer, ranks second by transaction volume after posting a record above 1.12 million alongside a new high for active users of nearly386,000on March 2. Activity on Linea has skyrocketed more than 800% since opening February at 123,900 daily transactions.
More here:
Active Users On Ethereum Layer 2s Surges To New Highs - The Defiant - DeFi News
Ethereum Gas Fees Skyrocket as Price Tops $3,900 – Bitcoinsensus
Ethereum (ETH), the worlds second-largest cryptocurrency, has made a remarkable comeback, reaching $3.9k for the first time in over a year. However, the celebrations are tempered by skyrocketing transaction fees (also known as gas fees) that are causing significant disruptions across the Ethereum network.
Claim up to $30,030 in Bonus
The altcoins impressive rally echoes the recent bullish trend in the broader cryptocurrency market, particularly with Bitcoin also approaching and finally reaching its all-time high. Unfortunately, the surge in ETHs value has been paralleled by a dramatic increase in gas fees, which recently exceeded 174 gwei.
In case you didnt know, exorbitant gas fees can significantly impact activity on the Ethereum network. In fact, NFT transactions can become prohibitively expensive, with average costs possibly exceeding $372. Token swaps and borrowing transactions are similarly burdened with high fees, often exceeding $200 each.
Unleash the potential of leverage trading! Join Bybit today with our link, complete KYC, and earn up to a $40 bonus on a $100 deposit. Dont miss out on this exclusive offer; claim your bonus now!
The gas fee surge is likely is fueled by increased network congestion as investors and traders participate in the ongoing ETH rally. The popularity of NFTs and DeFi protocols built on Ethereum contributes to the high demand for transaction processing. These high fees could deter some users, potentially hindering adoption and innovation within the Ethereum ecosystem.
Analysts have offered varying price targets for Ethereum in 2024. The most bullish of them have indicated that its possible for ETH to make it up to as high as $10,000, while others have said that simply reaching the previous ATH price would be an incredible feat.
Continued institutional interest and the upcoming Dencun upgrade could drive further price gains, but the persistence of high gas fees will remain a potential obstacle thats worth keeping an eye on.
Empower your crypto trading skills with our Legends Masterclass. Sign up now and take advantage of our limited-time discount offer!Join the class today.
Visit link:
Ethereum Gas Fees Skyrocket as Price Tops $3,900 - Bitcoinsensus
Geth Ethereum network share falls 5% after fears raised of ‘black swan event’ – Cointelegraph
Ethereum execution client Geth has seen its market share fall after community members raised concerns over the networks diversity, fearing Geths concentration could lead to a black swan event.
On Jan. 23, Geths market share of the Ethereum network execution clients fell 5.2% to 78.8% after reaching 84% the day prior.
Geth is critical in handling transactions and executing smart contracts on Ethereum, but its preference among Ethereum validators has led to an imbalance in execution client diversity on Ethereum, sparking centralization concerns.
Ethereum decentralization advocates, including the founding member of the ETHStaker community, known as Superphiz, stressed in a Jan. 24poston X (formerly Twitter) that a bug in Geth could lead to a more than 80% wipeout of Ether (ETH) staked on the network.
Im not trying to convince you that every execution client is as robust or as mature as Geth. Im just telling you that its a good idea to use less robust clients to prevent a black swan event, he explained in another post.
Lachlan Feeney, founder and CEO of Ethereum infrastructure firm Labrys, suggested in a Jan. 23 blog post that Ethereum validators could risk losing everything.
Probably not, but this is what 84% of the Ethereum stakers are doing today, Feeney added.
As Geths current share exceeds 2/3rds (or 66%), Feeney said a critical bug would instantly stop the chain from finalizing.
In that scenario, Geth validators that go offline would be subject to an inactivity leak, which results in the burning of their staked Ether until the execution recalibrates to a 1/3rd (or 33.3%) share of the network.
Feeney said 90% of a validators staked Ether could be wiped within roughly 40 days.
However, Feeney told Cointelegraph there would be a very small window for validators to exit and limit their losses, as there is a rate-limited queue for how many validators can exit per epoch.
Related: Ethereum devs expect 10x lower rollup costs as Dencun upgrade hits testnets
Nethermind, the second-largest execution client, increased its share from around 8% to 14% on Jan. 23.
Netherminds increased uptake came despite it identifying and fixing a critical bug in several versions of its execution client that caused users to fail to process blocks on Ethereum two days earlier.
Coinbase, one of the largest Ethereum validators running on Geth, announced its plan to transition to a multi-client infrastructure in the coming months.
The exchange explained Geth was the only Ethereum execution client that met its technical requirements since it started Ethereum staking in 2020.
However, the tide is turning, said Coinbase.
Magazine: Ethereum restaking: Blockchain innovation or dangerous house of cards?
Link:
Geth Ethereum network share falls 5% after fears raised of 'black swan event' - Cointelegraph
Bitcoin and Ethereum Price Prediction as BTC Rallies 10% From Recent Bottom and ETH Sees $5 Billion Flood In … – Cryptonews
Last updated: January 28, 2024 03:27 EST | 4 min read
In the dynamic world of cryptocurrency, Bitcoins price prediction seems bullish, especially as it experiences a noteworthy upswing, currently trading at $42,220, marking a nearly 1% increase on Sunday.
This positive trend in Bitcoins valuation coincides with a high-ranking representatives praise of BlackRocks Bitcoin ETF, hailing it as a huge success across various metrics.
Simultaneously, the US dollar is witnessing a decline in the wake of recent inflation figures, setting a critical stage for the upcoming Federal Reserve meeting next week. These developments collectively paint a complex but intriguing picture for Bitcoins future in the financial landscape.
Since its recent inception, BlackRocks iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) has seen strong growth, and in an interview with Yahoo Finance, U.S. Head Rachel Aguirre expressed pleasure with the outcome. After receiving permission from the SEC, IBITs trading volume increased to an astounding $3 billion in just two weeks, drawing in $1.6 billion in capital.
Aguirre highlighted BlackRocks dedication to giving investors access to Bitcoin, praising the product for its three USPs: better accessibility, the removal of hassles related to direct Bitcoin ownership, and offering high-caliber support.
Although Aguirre refuted rumors of a spot Ethereum ETF, she praised BlackRock for being ahead of the curve in gauging investor demand. BlackRock currently has 16,361 BTC in order to fund IBIT.
The favorable reaction highlights the increasing interest of institutions in cryptocurrencies, which is probably pushing up the price of Bitcoin.
Friday saw a little decline in the value of the US dollar as December inflation statistics confirmed the markets expectations of a mid-year interest rate drop by the Federal Reserve. Though it might have gained for a fourth week in a row, the dollar index fell 0.1% to 103.41.
In line with expectations, the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index increased by 0.2%, preventing annual inflation from rising above 3%. Analysts say there is no reason for the market to be concerned about inflation anytime soon, which lessens the chance of more tightening.
The dollars rise is being restrained by mounting disinflationary pressures globally, even though U.S. rate futures priced in a 47% chance of a rate decrease in March.
The situation with Bitcoin (BTC) is becoming better, and if investors continue to be concerned about inflation, they may become more interested in inflation-resistant assets like cryptocurrencies.
Stay up-to-date with the world of digital assets by exploring our handpicked collection of the best 15 alternative cryptocurrencies and ICO projects to keep an eye on in 2023. Our list has been curated by professionals from Industry Talk and Cryptonews, ensuring expert advice and critical insights for your cryptocurrency investments.
Take advantage of this opportunity to discover the potential of these digital assets and keep yourself informed.
Disclaimer: Cryptocurrency projects endorsed in this article are not the financial advice of the publishing author or publication cryptocurrencies are highly volatile investments with considerable risk, always do your own research.
Continue reading here:
Ethereum price prediction 2024 – USA TODAY
Key points
After a solid 2023 performance, ethereum prices are back above the psychological $2,000 level and within striking distance of new 52-week highs.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has continued its crypto market crackdown throughout 2023, but some experts say the implementation of much-needed crypto regulations will open the door for more investors and money to flow into the crypto market.
While bitcoin still reigns supreme, ethereum has maintained its position as king of the altcoins. Together, bitcoin and ethereum now account for roughly two-thirds of the total global crypto market cap.
The biggest crypto market catalyst investors are anticipating in the coming months is the likely SEC approval of the first spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund to trade on a major U.S. exchange. Once the SEC approves the first spot bitcoin ETF, ethereum investors are hoping it wont be long before the first ethereum spot ETF gets the SECs stamp of approval as well.
The leading altcoin could also catch a bid in the first half of 2024 if the Federal Reserve begins cutting interest rates sooner or more aggressively than expected.
Ethereum prices are up more than 60% year to date as of late November, but they have significantly lagged bitcoins 128% gain.
Additional upside in 2024 will likely depend on monetary policy, additional clarity on the crypto regulation front and the ability of ethereum to demonstrate scalability as the number of decentralized applications, known as dApps, on ethereums programmable blockchain continues to grow.
Ethereum is approaching the close of 2023 near its 52-week highs, and much of that recent positive momentum stems from investors anticipating the SEC will soon approve its first spot cryptocurrency ETFs.
In recent years, the SEC has approved several popular cryptocurrency futures ETFs that hold futures contracts rather than cryptocurrency itself.
But the regulator has repeatedly rejected several rounds of applications for spot ETFs that would hold actual cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin and ethereum. In its past rejections, the SEC cited concerns over investor safety and potential cryptocurrency market manipulation.
However, Grayscale scored a major legal victory over the SEC in August 2023 when a court overturned the SECs rejection of Grayscales application to convert its popular Grayscale Bitcoin Trust into a spot bitcoin ETF.
Grayscales victory is also good news for ethereum investors because the firm filed in October to convert its Grayscale Ethereum Trust into a spot ethereum ETF as well.
Grayscale isnt the only company seeking SEC approval for a spot ethereum ETF in the U.S. ARK Invest and 21Shares jointly applied for the Ark 21Shares Ethereum ETF in September 2023.
BlackRock followed up by applying for approval to convert the iShares Ethereum Trust into a spot ETF in November 2023. Both applications are still awaiting SEC approval. BlackRock previously applied for a spot bitcoin ETF in June.
Given bitcoins position as the gold standard in crypto, its likely the SEC will first rule on several of the spot bitcoin ETF applications before potentially approving the first spot ethereum ETF.
If the regulator approves a spot bitcoin ETF, it wouldnt necessarily guarantee that spot ethereum ETF approval is imminent. But it would certainly be a strong indication that it could be.
ETH investors are hoping the launch of spot crypto ETFs will provide easy access to crypto for a new class of institutional and retail investors, opening the floodgates to a wave of demand that could push crypto prices to new highs.
The SEC stamp of approval would also help reassure skeptical investors that ethereum and other cryptocurrencies are a valid, safe asset class.
In addition to a potential spot ethereum ETF, Jesper Johansen, CEO and founder of Northstake, said scalability will be the biggest topic on ethereum investors minds in 2024.
As user adoption of ethereum grows, the protocol will need to scale its operational capacity to facilitate more network transactions. Projects and integrations that increase the scalability of ethereums protocol will be one of the primary value drivers for ETH in 2024, he said.
The ethereum blockchain first went live in 2015 and spent most of its first few months trading for less than $2.
Ethereum didnt start generating significant price momentum until skyrocketing bitcoin prices gained cryptocurrency mainstream awareness for the first time in late 2017.
ETH prices hit $100 for the first time in May 2017 and continued their meteoric rise to break above $1,000 in January 2018 following the launch of the first bitcoin futures contracts in December 2017.
CME Groups bitcoin futures represented the first crypto-related financial products offered by a mainstream financial institution. CME didnt follow up with ethereum futures contracts until September 2022.
Ethereum prices ultimately peaked above $1,300 in January 2018 before plummeting to under $100 by December 2018. Later, crypto trading became trendy once again during the COVID-19 pandemic. The price of ethereum soared to new all-time highs and reached a peak of $4,891 in November 2021. That was before rising interest rates triggered a sell-off in cryptos and other risk assets in 2022.
The 2022 sell-off created chaos in the crypto market. Luna and its associated stablecoin terra completely collapsed in May 2022. That year, crypto exchange FTX and a handful of other prominent crypto firms and crypto lenders filed for bankruptcy protection.
Amid the crypto winter in 2022, ethereum prices dropped as low as the $1,000 threshold. But ETH made it back above $1,500 by January 2023 and briefly topped $2,000 in April 2023.
In the second half of 2023, investors shifted their focus from 2022s crypto winter to the possibility of the first SEC-approved spot crypto ETFs.
Ethereum investor sentiment is bullish and pricing momentum is positive heading into 2024
That said, longtime crypto investors know gains and losses can go as quickly as they come, and ethereum investors should anticipate more volatility in the year ahead.
Ethereum is notoriously volatile and unpredictable, along with the rest of the crypto market. However, momentum is positive for now, and there are several reasons for investors to believe ETH prices will continue to trend higher in 2024.
Unlike bitcoin, which is primarily used as a store of value and means of value transfer, the ethereum blockchain network has a unique utility for dApp developers. Developers use the ethereum network to develop other cryptocurrencies, trade non-fungible tokens, and create and run smart contracts and other decentralized finance applications.
Bitcoins overall crypto market dominance has been on the rise, but ethereums utility and decentralization have helped it continue to dominate the altcoins. As of October 2023, the ethereum ecosystem had more than 1,800 monthly active developers, three times more than polkadot, which is the second-largest platform for developers.
Ethereum is also the most popular blockchain for NFT sales. The ethereum network nearly doubles the NFT sales of the bitcoin blockchain (including wash sales) and has significantly more NFT sales than any other blockchain, according to CryptoSlam.
Ramani Ramachandran, co-founder and CEO of Router Protocol, said the financial media will likely focus on ethereums price swings in 2024, but long-term investors should instead focus on the platforms innovation and upgrades.
Im looking forward to what 2024 brings. Ethereum has regularly been at the front of smart contract innovation, making them one of the most interesting projects to watch, Ramachandran said.
Finally, ethereums transition away from proof-of-work verification makes the cryptocurrency potentially more scalable and appealing to investors and developers concerned about the environmental impact of cryptocurrency mining.
Besides its utility value, ethereum remains the only cryptocurrency other than bitcoin with futures contracts that trade on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Futures contracts are agreements to buy or sell an asset at a specific price at a future date, and they can provide a high degree of leverage that can supercharge investor returns.
Futures trading is particularly popular among institutional investors, and ethereum futures can serve as useful hedges against bitcoin positions.
Average retail investors can also trade ethereum futures contracts, but the inherent volatility of futures creates an additional dimension of risk on top of an already extremely volatile and risky cryptocurrency.
It can be very difficult for even professional financial analysts to determine a true value for ethereum because it doesnt generate cash flow or revenue like a traditional business, nor does it represent ownership of a physical asset or intellectual property.
But analysts at VanEck use estimates of total ethereum network revenue to make long-term price projections for the cryptocurrency. VanEck forecasts ethereum network revenue will climb from $2.6 billion today to roughly $51 billion by 2030.
But the firms bull case projection of $136.7 billion in 2030 revenue represents a best-case scenario ethereum price target of around $51,000.
According to VanEcks methodology, ethereum prices could surpass $50,000 by 2030 in a best-case scenario, but that would include a significant rise in activity on the ethereum blockchain over the next six years. When more apps are running on the blockchain, increased fee revenue is generated.
Kadan Stadelmann, chief technology officer at Komodo Platform, said this type of growth will hinge on the ethereum networks scalability.
If the ethereum network becomes more scalable, ETH could be a good investment alternative to bitcoin. However, reaching $50,000 during the next bull market cycle is possible but unlikely, Stadelmann said.
The ethereum blockchain has emerged as the top blockchain for dApp developers, positioning ethereum to potentially be a key player in the future of finance, NFTs and other industries. The more popular the ethereum network becomes, the more the long-term bull case for the cryptocurrency makes sense.
But there is no guarantee ethereum will maintain its position as the top dApp blockchain over the long term. Ethereum has been an excellent long-term investment up to this point, and it has more than doubled the return of bitcoin over the past three years. Unfortunately, ethereum prices have always been extremely volatile and prone to extreme sell-offs.
Ethereums all-time intraday high was $4,865 in November 2021.
Ethereum may be an appropriate investment for short-term market speculators and traders who have high risk tolerance and are looking for an extremely volatile asset.
But ethereum has an unproven long-term track record compared to assets such as gold, stocks or bonds, and long-term investors shouldnt assume ethereums strong past performance is a guarantee of future returns.
Its extremely difficult to accurately predict the price of cryptocurrency given fluctuations in the crypto market are based largely on investor sentiment. However, VanEck has forecast ethereum prices will reach around $11,800 by 2030 based on current network revenue trajectories.
View post:
Polygon Nearly Matches Ethereum In User Acquisition in 2023, Adds 2.8 Million Users This January – NullTX
In 2023, Polygon, a Layer-2 scaling network for Ethereum, came close to rivaling Ethereum in crypto user acquisition, as per data from blockchain analytics firm Flipside.
The gap between Polygon and Ethereum was narrow, with Polygon gaining an impressive 15.24 million users compared to Ethereums 15.4 million.
Flipside defines an acquired user as someone who has completed at least two transactions on a specific blockchain, with at least one occurring in 2023.
Interestingly, Polygons user acquisition peaked in the first half of 2023, though Ethereum surpassed Polygon in the latter half of the year.
January saw Polygon leading the way with 2.8 million new users, representing over 40% of all new users added to the network throughout the year.
Despite a consistent decline in monthly user acquisition rates, Polygon outperformed many other networks.
Bitcoin, with 10.65 million new users, secured the third position, while Solana and Arbitrum rounded out the top five.
Despite Ethereums longstanding dominance, Polygons impressive performance signals a growing interest and adoption of Layer-2 scaling solutions within the crypto community.
The significant uptick in user acquisition for Polygon underscores its appeal as a scalable and efficient platform for decentralized applications (DApps) and transactions.
As the crypto landscape continues to evolve, the competition among blockchain networks intensifies, with each vying to attract and retain users in a rapidly expanding ecosystem.
Disclosure: This is not trading or investment advice. Always do your research before buying any cryptocurrency or investing in any services.
Follow us on Twitter@nulltxnewsto stay updated with the latest Crypto, NFT, AI, Cybersecurity, Distributed Computing, andMetaverse news!
Image Source: skorzewiak/123RF// Image Effects byColorcinch
See the original post here: