Is Ethereum (ETH) Ready For A Monster Move In January 2024?

In a recent post on X, Sassal, an independent Ethereum educator, is doubling down on Ethereum (ETH). The angel investor said that based on current market sentiment, there are signals that the “death of ETH” narrative is losing steam.

This is a reason, in Sassal’s view, to buy even more ETH ahead of the expected bull run.

Ethereum Bulls Confident, ETH Resistance At $2,400

With the bullish stance, the independent Ethereum educator appears to be convinced that Ethereum’s fundamentals are strong. More importantly, the analyst is confident that the network is well-positioned to capitalize on the growing demand for protocols, including those offering decentralized finance (defi) and non-fungible token minting services. 

Thus far, Ethereum, despite the relatively sluggish performance compared to meme coins like BONK or PEPE, remains the second most valuable network only behind Bitcoin.

From the candlestick arrangement in the daily chart, the coin is within a bullish formation. 

The coin rallied by nearly 60%, topping at December 2023 at around $2,400 before pulling back to spot rates. Even with the cool-off, buyers still have the upper hand. 

Ethereum price trending upward on the daily chart | Source: ETHUSDT on Binance, TradingView

When writing on December 12, ETH prices found support at the dynamic reaction line, the 20-day moving average. It is also trading above the $2,100 support line, marking July 2023 highs. Accordingly, it means the bullish breakout formation of early December 2023 is valid.

This move could anchor optimistic buyers targeting $3,000 and even 2021 highs of around $5,000 in the days ahead.

Network Is Upgrading: Will This Drive Prices Even Higher In January 2024?

The likelihood of trend continuation in 2024 also stems from plans by the platform’s developers to enhance performance and scalability. With Ethereum 2.0 on, developers have been working on layer-2 scaling options like Arbitrum and Optimism to relieve the mainnet.

However, going forward, on-chain scaling solutions like Sharding, where the network will be fragmented into units called “shards” that are interconnected, will be rolled out. 

Echoing Sassal’s sentiment, another commentator on the X post noted that December and January have historically been “monster months” for Ethereum in previous bull markets.

This suggests that even if Ethereum prices have not rallied by triple digits like some meme coins or even outperformed Solana (SOL), the coin could be poised for a significant price rally in the coming months.

Still, how ETH prices will evolve in the upcoming sessions remains to be seen. As it is, $2,500 remains to be a key reaction point that if broken could trigger more demand.

Ethereum Breaks Through $2,200 Ceiling, Investors Expect $3,000 This Week

The price of Ethereum (ETH) has risen sharply today, hitting a new 2023 high of $2,250 as the cryptocurrency market continued to trend higher toward a successful year-end.

The recent strong upward trend in Ethereum aligns with Bitcoin’s continuous attempt to break above $41,000, which it did today. As of the time of writing, the price of bitcoin was $41.437.

Analysts say the approval of a BlackRock spot ether instrument would result in an influx of institutional capital into Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency network globally.

Ethereum’s Price Surge

The most recent charts show an upward trajectory that has many analysts and investors upbeat about the cryptocurrency hitting the coveted $3,000 barrier in the upcoming weeks or months.

As this transpired, a crucial on-chain trade statistic reveals that, just 24 hours prior to the most recent price breakout, Ethereum 2.0 stakers made an unexpected $330 million move.

On December 2, investors pulled out a massive 169,220 ETH (about $337 million) from ETH 2.0 beacon chain Proof of Stake contracts, according to IntoTheBlock.

Interestingly, since the Ethereum Shapella Upgrade enabled withdrawals in April 2023, this is the second-highest staking withdrawal amount.

Resilient Rebound And Bullish Market Signals

Today, when the price of Bitcoin broke beyond the coveted $41,000 barrier, the cryptocurrency market is starting to feel more optimistic again.

The price of ETH recovered from the psychologically critical $2,000 threshold in response to this positive change, showing an 8% weekly increase to its current trading price of $2,250.

The classic sign of a bull market is a sequence of higher lows and higher highs, which is what we observe when we look at Ethereum’s daily chart. The 50-day and 100-day moving averages served as dynamic resistance, but the price has now overcome both.

“On the basis of lower yields, cryptocurrency has been going pleasantly higher, along with Gold,” crypto data firm Amberdata stated in a newsletter on Sunday.

In a note, Lucy Hu, Senior Analyst at Metalpha, stated that there is increasing market expectation for a rate reduction in the coming year.

Investor optimism on the potential for Bitcoin ETF applications from significant asset management firms is also growing.

She states:

“This is an official declaration of a bull run, and there may be additional price increases in the upcoming weeks.”

Meanwhile, laws may also have an impact on Ethereum’s price in the future; although favorable developments may encourage investment, harsher laws may provide risks. Important factors also include investor sentiment and the state of the economy.

It’s unclear if ETH will overtake Bitcoin in market valuation; this will depend on things like adoption rates and network improvements. Right now, Bitcoin is in the lead with a far larger market capitalization.

(This site’s content should not be construed as investment advice. Investing involves risk. When you invest, your capital is subject to risk).

Featured image from Shutterstock

LIVE BLOG: Ethereum’s Shanghai Upgrade

CoinDesk reporters and editors chronicle the first-ever activation of withdrawals from the Ethereum staking mechanism, set for Wednesday at 6:27 p.m. ET ( Developers refer to the upgrade as “Shapella” since it includes the “Capella” changes to the blockchain’s consensus layer as well as “Shanghai” on the execution layer.