Amidst the recent surge in Bitcoin's BTC/USD price in the past couple of months, driven by hopes for a regulatory nod to spot ETFs, top analyst Michaël van de Poppe argued that Ethereum ETH/USD is not dead, and raised the question of whether it will outperform the apex cryptocurrency in 2024.
What Happened: On a year-to-date basis, BTC and ETH posted gains of 165% and 93%, respectively. However, in the past two months, Bitcoin gained 43%, while Ethereum closely followed with a 38% gain, indicating a narrower gap.
While market sentiment turned negative on Ethereum, Van De Poppe explained, “That's organic and natural price action, as everything is skewed towards Bitcoin pre-ETF.”
The analyst believes that with the expected upbeat BTC price in 2024, ETH will likely follow suit.
He attributed Bitcoin's increased prominence to hopes for spot ETF approvals, with the halving event in April 2024 gaining considerable attention in the community.
Based on historical price action, the first quarter is considered Ethereum's best season, with a 48% surge in ETH prices seen in the first quarter of 2023. In contrast, the last quarter is typically regarded as the worst for ETH.
Why It Matters: A significant reason Van De Poppe anticipates Ethereum gaining attention in 2024 is the transition from Proof-of-Work (PoW) to Proof-of-Stake (PoS). The impact of this transition is expected to become evident in 2024, fostering fundamental growth and attracting more investment than Bitcoin.
Market sentiment also expects an Ether ETF following a Bitcoin ETF, providing dApps a better avenue to be built on Ethereum and included within ETFs.
In conclusion, amid the Bitcoin halving event and high ETF optimism, a money flow cycle is predicted to drive market capitalizations, particularly for Ethereum.
Bitwise Predictions 2024 indicate that Ethereum is poised to become one of the fastest-growing tech platforms globally, with experts forecasting a doubling of fees from $2.3 billion in 2023. Ethereum's rapid growth is propelled by mainstream adoption of crypto apps.
Last week, Glassnode cofounders Jan Happel and Yann Allemann stated, “Eyes on $2.5k target, fueled by market enthusiasm. Ambitious push continues to $2.7k.”
Regarding Ethereum developments, Dencun, a highly anticipated network upgrade scheduled for Jan. 17, 2024, is currently undergoing accelerated testing by Ethereum developers. The upgrade aims to introduce data storage capabilities and scale the blockchain through "proto-danksharding," while also reducing fees for layer 2 rollups.
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.
