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Ethereum Hits $4,000 as Crypto Market Surges
The price of Ethereum soared past $4,000 today amidst a strong crypto bull market. This milestone coincided with Bitcoin breaking above $70,000 and setting a new all-time high, as reported by Coinbase.
ETH had been steadily trading above $3,900 since early Friday morning before finally hitting the $4,000 mark. This represented a 4.20% increase in the past 24 hours, based on data from Coinbase. Subsequently, the price dipped slightly to $3,943.
Ethereum’s Recent Performance
The latest surge in Ethereum’s price began in early February, with ETH climbing sharply from around $2,300 and eventually reaching $3,000 within three weeks. Despite achieving the $4,000 milestone, Ethereum is still 20% below its all-time high of $4,891 recorded in November 2021.
A significant development for Ethereum occurred in September 2022 when the network successfully completed the highly-anticipated ‘Merge.’ This transition marked the shift from a proof-of-work to a proof-of-stake algorithm, with ETH trading around $1,300 in the ensuing weeks.
The journey towards $4,000 initiated on March 1 as the Ethereum network geared up for the Dencun upgrade scheduled for March 13. This upgrade is expected to introduce new technical capabilities and reduce transaction costs on Ethereum scaling solutions.
Challenges Along the Way
Despite Ethereum’s upward trajectory, it encountered challenges along the path. Following a climb to $3,500 on Monday, the crypto market experienced a sharp downturn on Tuesday, causing ETH to drop from $3,816 to $3,398 before recovering to $3,778. Concurrently, the amount of ETH staked on the network increased by 9% to approximately $116 billion.
Currently boasting a market capitalization of $471 billion, Ethereum’s prospects were further bolstered in January following the approval of several Bitcoin ETFs by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. This development fueled expectations for a potential approval of a spot Ethereum ETF. Notably, Standard Chartered had forecasted that spot Ethereum ETFs could drive ETH’s price to $4,000, a milestone Ethereum achieved independently.
However, the market eagerly awaits the actual impact of these events, particularly with the SEC deferring its decision on BlackRock’s Ethereum ETF proposal. In addition to BlackRock, other entities such as Grayscale, VanEck, and Franklin Templeton have also submitted applications for spot Ethereum ETFs, underscoring the growing interest in Ethereum and its future trajectory.
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