What’s Next For Ether Prices After They Surpassed $1,700 Today?

Ether prices have enjoyed some upside lately, climbing above $1,700 this afternoon and rising to their loftiest value in more than four months.

Around 1:15 p.m. EST, the world’s second-most valuable digital currency by market value reached $1,713.41, according to CoinDesk data.

At this point, the cryptocurrency was trading at its highest since approximately mid-September, additional CoinDesk figures reveal.

Since then, the digital asset has retreated slightly, fluctuating closer to $1,650 at the time of this writing.

[Ed note: Investing in cryptocoins or tokens is highly speculative and the market is largely unregulated. Anyone considering it should be prepared to lose their entire investment.]

When asked what’s next for ether, and which major developments traders should monitor going forward, market experts pointed to a handful of key considerations.

Shanghai Hard Fork

Several analysts emphasized the importance of the upcoming Shanghai hard fork.

This network upgrade, which is currently expected to take place in March, will include multiple upgrades, CoinDesk reported.

Since the Ethereum network transitioned to POS from proof-of work following the merge, users who want to set up validators, virtual entities that help confirm transactions via staking, have been required to deposit 32 ether.

EIP-4895, an update that will be implemented as a result of the Shanghai hard fork, will make it so that validators participating in Ethereum’s proof-of-stake consensus mechanism will be able to withdraw the ether they have deposited in order to take part in staking.

Later this month, developers will launch a testnet where interested parties can begin testing such withdrawals, according to CoinDesk.

Brett Sifling, an investment advisor for Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management, commented on these developments.

“For Ethereum specifically, I think the next catalyst that investors are looking at is the launch of the new test net, ‘Zhejiang’ for simulating ETH withdrawals,” he stated.

“Users will have a sense of how staked ETH withdrawals will work when the test net goes live on February 7th,” he stated.

“People are calling the upcoming upgrade the Shanghai hard fork.”

Independent cryptocurrency analyst Armando Aguilar also spoke to this pending update, stating that “This could be a price catalyst for Ethereum.”

“Investors have begun to see increased activity in liquid staking platforms ahead of the Shanghai upgrade,” he noted.

Technical Analysis

Some market observers offered technical analysis, identifying key levels of support and resistance that traders should watch.

“Ethereum has found support in the low $1.6k area, if ETH slips to the low $1.6k range, we could see it retest the high $1.4k bound,” said Aguilar.

“An ascending pattern trading pattern and improved investor sentiment could propel Ethereum to test $1.8k during the month of February,” he added.

Joe DiPasquale, CEO of cryptocurrency hedge fund manager BitBull Capital, also weighed in.

“ETH has been performing well following the 25 bps hike yesterday,” he stated, referring to the recent decision made by the Federal Open Market Committee to increase its target range for the benchmark federal funds rate by 25 basis points.

“That being said, it’s facing a strong resistance zone between $1700 and $2000,” said DiPasquale.

Improving Market Sentiment

More than one analyst stated that investors have become a bit more optimistic lately.

Sifling emphasized the strong upside that ether has had so far this year.

“Ethereum has had quite the run in 2023 so far! I believe it’s boost came from the rally in U.S. growth equities, as the fears of inflation and a hawkish fed are starting to subside,” he stated.

“We’re not necessarily out of the woods yet, but it’s nice to see speculation start to pick up again in the digital asset market,” said Sifling.

Aguilar also weighed in, emphasizing the changing mindset of market participants.

“Looking at the ETH Fear and Greed Index, the blue-chip digital asset has moved into greed territory,” he stated, noting that the aforementioned index has a value of 61, signifying greed, today.

The image below illustrates this situation:

“Given the macroeconomic environment, the Fed’s recent comments and small 25bps hike, in addition to a decline in CPI figure, risk-on is currently back in play for investors,” said Aguilar.

Mixed Outlook

Going forward, analyst Tim Enneking offered a mixed outlook for ether.

“After the relatively large (by recent crypto standards) move up, it’s clearly time for a bit of consolidation,” he stated.

“I would expect some sideways, or even slightly downward, movement for a couple of weeks or more,” said Enneking, managing director of Digital Capital Management.

“Thereafter, I think we’ll see a fairly steady move up until the summer. Past that, it’s difficult to see, although 2023 should see ETH easily above $2k,” he said.

Disclosure: I own some bitcoin, bitcoin cash, litecoin, ether, EOS and sol.