The cryptocurrency market has experienced a 4.5% increase in Ethereum’s price over the past 24 hours, currently standing at $1,669, which may be due to the market recovering from its weekend selloff. Within the last week, Ethereum has gained 6.5%, and within the past 30 days, it has gained 8%, with a total of 39.5% since the year 2023 began. ETH is considered to be the market’s most fundamentally sound coin, which presents a good chance for it to make additional gains throughout the year. In fact, the Shanghai upgrade and the coin’s impending devaluation may lead to a rush into Ethereum in the following months.
The Ethereum price prediction looks promising, as the relative strength index (RSI) has increased to 60 from its previous oversold state at 30, painting a positive image. Additionally, a new bullish trend has emerged, with Ethereum’s 30-day moving average rising above its 200-day moving average. While it remains unclear how long this trend will last, if ETH can overcome the $1,700 resistance mark, it may continue to rise for some time.
The upcoming Shanghai upgrade, scheduled for release at the end of March or the beginning of April, is expected to bring significant benefits to Ethereum. The withdrawal of staked ETH will be possible, which will reduce the risk associated with staking for users and ensure that their money can be obtained quickly. Furthermore, the Shanghai upgrade provides the technical foundation for upcoming Ethereum updates, such as sharding, which will significantly improve scalability when it goes live, most likely next year.
There are additional reasons to be optimistic about the future of ETH, including the fact that it has started to deflate following the Merge and prior EIP 1559 upgrade, resulting in the burning of fees. The deflationary effects will be compounded by the recent adoption-related news, including Coinbase’s announcement that it will be releasing Base, a layer-two sidechain for Ethereum, and Visa’s testing of USDC stablecoin payments on the Ethereum blockchain. These developments indicate that most large companies will ultimately choose Ethereum if they choose to use a public, permissionless blockchain, leading to a rise in the use of Ethereum and ETH over time.
Despite the developing banking crisis, the market can anticipate that ETH will increase consistently throughout the year, with the possibility of crossing the $1,700 mark and reaching $2,000 by the second half of the year and possibly hitting $2,500 at the beginning of 2024.