Ethereum (ETH) once again failed to break through the stubborn $4,000 resistance level, but BlackRock's iShares Ethereum Trust ETF quietly declined. accumulated Over 1 million ETH. This milestone reflects strong institutional demand for Ethereum, even though price performance in 2024 remains lackluster.
Institutional interest in Ethereum grows
Year-to-date (year-to-date), Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, is up 43%, rising from about $2,280 on January 1 to $3,283 at the time of writing. It is noteworthy that ETH's performance has been overshadowed by other cryptocurrencies such as XRP, Solana (SOL), and SUI, which have posted significantly higher gains over the same period.
However, Ethereum has a key advantage over most altcoins: direct access to institutional investors through regulated ETFs, similar to Bitcoin's position in the market. Recently post At X, cryptocurrency entrepreneur Dan Gambardello highlighted that BlackRock's Ethereum ETF holdings exceeded 1 million ETH.
Gambardello noted that ETH’s consolidation below its all-time high (ATH) and increased interest from institutional investors set the stage for a potentially “unprecedented” altcoin season. Recent ETH ETF inflow data seems to support this outlook.
According to data The U.S. Spot ETH ETF has recorded net inflows for four consecutive weeks, attracting more than $2 billion, according to SoSoValue. The total net assets held across the U.S. Spot ETH ETFs are $12.15 billion, nearly 3% of Ethereum's total market capitalization.
Cryptocurrency analysts are optimistic that Ethereum, the leading smart contract platform, will evolve. tracking Reach new ATH. For example, CryptosRus noted that historically, Ethereum has shown bullish price action during the first four months of the year following the US presidential election.
The graph below shows that ETH rose significantly in the first quarter of 2017 after the 2016 US election. A similar pattern was observed in 2021 after the 2020 elections, with Ethereum recording four consecutive weeks of price increases.
From a technical perspective, crypto analyst @CryptoPoseidonn shared an 8-hour ETH chart showing that ETH could bottom near the 200-day exponential moving average (EMA) marked in green. Suggests. Analysts say:
This is the first pullback since the previous big rally, and fear is at its peak. I think this is where it prints higher lows. A dip like this is an opportunity to increase spot exposure.
Is the market correction nearing an end?
The market capitalization of cryptocurrencies has fallen from $3.9 trillion on December 16th to $3.4 trillion at the time of writing, a loss of $500 billion in one week. Data from Coinglass reveals that more than $289 million worth of liquidations took place in the past 24 hours alone.
Despite this recession, Mr. Pentoshi, an experienced cryptocurrency analyst, proposed On the 3-day chart, it is believed that this crash could be a retry of the previous crypto market cap ATH recorded in November 2022. If so, this level could form the basis for the next bull market.
But not all analysts are bullish on the short term. Famous cryptocurrency entrepreneur Arthur Hayes recently warned Regarding the possibility of a market downturn around President Donald Trump's inauguration in January. At the time of writing, ETH is trading at $3,283, up 1.2% in the past 24 hours.
Featured image from Unsplash.com, charts from X and TradingView.com
