The price of Ethereum(ETH) rises as that of Bitcoin falls

Between January 10 and January 12, the price of Ethereum (ETH) increased by 13.5%, reaching a high of approximately $2,650. This followed the clearance of a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) for spot trading. Ethereum hit its highest price since May 2022 around that time, while Bitcoin saw a minor decline in trade. Investors are already speculating as to whether Ethereum’s $322 billion market valuation can sustained.

Ethereum’s (ETH) price has risen by 27% in the last 60 days, surpassing Bitcoin’s (24%). This is significant since the approval of a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) was expected to increase the price. The clearance creates prospects for new clientele who were previously unable to invest directly in cryptocurrencies. Bloomberg ETF analysts expect a 70% likelihood of Ethereum ETF certification by May, compared to 95% for Bitcoin. Major asset managers such as BlackRock and Fidelity expect the US Securities and Exchange Commission to make a judgment on a spot Ethereum ETF by May 23. Some observers feel the verdict will come sooner than expected, particularly since Bitcoin has already established the precedent. The SEC has intermediate deadlines in late January for certain applicants.

Ethereum competitors have lost momentum

 Given that Bitcoin’s spot ETF acceptance had a negative price impact, one might deduce that other causes drive Ether’s positive momentum. For starters, Ethereum’s direct competitors experienced a pullback following strong rallies. BNB BNB$304 down 2% in the seven days preceding January 12, while SOL SOL $97 fell 3% in the same period. SOL’s positive impetus dissipated after the exceptionally successful SPL token airdrops — including JITO, BONK, and WIF — saw 40% or more price corrections. Furthermore, much of the increased decentralized applications (DApps) activity appeared to concentrated on a few projects with upcoming coin releases, which similarly faded after the relevant snapshots. As a result, investors’ enthusiasm for Solana’s SOL coin began to wane.

Between December 17 and December 27, 2023, BNB had remarkable and unexpected gains of 35.7%; however, network activity did not keep up with the positive trend. Actually, according to DappRadar, during the seven days that concluded on January 12, the number of transactions fell by 64% and the active DApp addresses of the BNB Chain decreased by 61%. In contrast, during the same period, Ethereum experienced a 2.2% decrease in active addresses and a 0.3% decrease in volumes.

Ethereum’s network, which includes the top collections such as CryptoPunks, Bored Ape Yacht Club, Pudgy Penguins, and Azuki, continues to be the unchallenged leader in value, regardless of how much the nonfungible token (NFT) markets decline in comparison to the 2021 peak. To put it simply, people who use top NFT assets and Ethereum-based decentralized finance (DeFi) apps don’t care about an average transaction fee of $6.30.

DApp usage and mining on Ethereum are still strong.

Ether’s price is also up due to its 4.3% yearly staking incentive and slightly negative issuance rate. Almost 24% of the total circulating ETH supply is locked up while participating in the network’s validation procedure, raising investor expectations for its price. Solana’s adjusted staking reward is 0.8%, because of its high SOL issue rate.

The Ethereum network is projected to experience a hard fork, resulting in a significant advancement in its technological capabilities. The “Dencun” fork, which aims to improve data availability and cut rollup transaction costs, will launch its first testnet on January 17. Another projected enhancement is account abstraction, which allows for lower transaction costs and secure social logins.

It makes sense to streamline the user experience and financial aspects of accessing Ethereum’s second levels, given the platform’s restricted ability to scale and integrate privacy solutions in its base layer has been a persistent point of contention. Ether’s surge above $2,600, therefore, has less to do with the approval of the spot ETF than first appears, since the network still holds a strong position in the smart contract space.