- Anticipation of the London upgrade to benefit Ether prices further.
- Ethereum’s dynamics, including control of dApps, will give it an edge going forward.
- The cryptocurrency is unlikely to further gain momentum.
Ethereum’s been on a scintillating run, and it set another ATH yesterday by breaching the $2,800 mark. ETH’s value has risen by about 22% in the past week, stealing the limelight from Bitcoin in the process.
At the time of writing, Ether had lost 0.2% of its value in the previous 24 hours, but there wasn’t much to show that it was bound to lose significantly.
Bitcoin’s cryptocurrency market share has dwindled over the past two weeks, going as low as 49%, in a move reminiscent of the July 2018 slump. On its part, Ethereum has seen its cryptocurrency market share hit an impressive 15% as a result of its recent gains.
However, that is still some way off the 23% share of the pie it claimed in January 2018.
With Bitcoin showing signs of recovery from its recent slump, investors are now faced with a dilemma as to which crypto to put their money in. However, in the meantime, Ether remains the hotter prospect.
Promising upgrade, encouraging prospects and outlook
Ethereum has been riding high on the Berlin hard fork, and the momentum is likely to get more propulsion from the forthcoming London upgrade.
The new upgrade is scheduled for July and will come with the much-awaited EIP-1559, which will significantly reduce transaction costs on the blockchain. This will likely increase traffic to the Ethereum ecosystem, which could stir up prices.
In addition, the upgrade is designed to enhance the proof of stake shift by the network.
As the outlook for Ethereum continues to attract attention, the blockchain has this week received a further boost from a report published by JPMorgan. Analysts at the investment bank believe that Ethereum has the upper hand going forward because its ascent is not as dependent on leveraged demand as Bitcoin.
The adoption of cryptocurrencies is growing despite the recent turbulence in the market. Two days ago, South American online market giant, MercadoLibre, integrated digital currencies in its real estate segment. This effectively means that the region’s second-largest corporation will give cryptocurrencies access to its $80 billion business empire, spread across 18 Latin American countries.
Ethereum’s footprint will certainly keep expanding, with the concept of decentralized internet picking up. In a significant development on this front, ThreeFold has incorporated ECO chain, Binance Smart Chain, and Ethereum in its peer-to-peer internet development project. Under the plan, BSC will be the first to be integrated, followed by Ethereum and BSC later in the year.
Ethereum has the upper hand in the decentralized internet concept due to its well-established hold on decentralized applications. This, therefore, means that Ethereum users could seamlessly transition into the new platform, enabling them to benefit by giving the requisite nodes necessary to make the project successful.
Regulatory boost
As much as digital currencies have had run-ins with regulatory authorities, some central banks have embraced the idea.
The Swiss National bank is the latest one to signal its intention to use these assets. The bank has planned a test run of the transfer of CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency). An official of the Bank, Thomas Moser, this week revealed that the test would involve cross-border funds transfer.
He emphasized that the trial will involve the transfer of a real CBDC to the central bank of another country and will not be a simulation.
While coming from the world’s banking haven, the announcement is a major boost to the prospects of cryptocurrencies being integrated into the mainstream financial system.
Technical outlook
Ethereum is likely to find the first support at $2,544, and the second support level may be established at $2,449.
The momentum seems to have cooled down, and the ETH/USD pair should encounter the first resistance at $2,855, beyond which the next possible resistance is around $2,900.
