Ethereum ETH/USD posted a 3.6% gain in the past 24 hours and is closing in on the $3,000 mark during Monday’s trading session. The last time the token reached these levels was in April 2022.
What Happened: This surge takes the weekly gains to 15%, outpacing the gains of the apex crypto, Bitcoin, which gained 9%.
On Monday, Spot On Chain data reported a significant whale transaction wherein 22,719 ETH (worth $65.7 million) were purchased. Overall, the whale purchased 54,721 ETH through Binance and 1inch at a price of around $2,845 (worth $155.7M) in the past 24 hours.
Crypto bettors on Polymarket, a cryptocurrency-based prediction market, think there is a 59% chance of Ethereum hitting $3,500 by May 31, 2024.
In addition to other factors, Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin expressed excitement about AI-assisted formal verification of code and bug finding.
Why It Matters: After Ethereum’s upgrade, The Merge, in September 2022 1.05 million ETH ($3.05 billion) were issued, and 1.4 million ETH were burned, leading to a net supply reduction of 359,557 ETH or 0.209% year-on-year, based on UltraSound Money data.
The Merge replaced miners with validators, thereby removing a significant chunk of ether supply from the market.
Greg Magadini, Amberdata's director of Derivatives, as cited by CoinDesk stated that Ethereum's supply reduction and staked ETH, coupled with a possible spot Ether ETF, make "the supply story for ETH as bullish as fundamentals can get.”
The Securities and Exchange Commission will decide on the approval of a spot Ether ETF in the U.S. with applications submitted from Franklin Templeton, BlackRock, Fidelity, Ark and 21Shares, Grayscale, VanEck, Invesco Galaxy, and Hashdex.
Also Read: Coinbase Named As 'Custodian In 5 Of 8 Ethereum ETF Applications,' Says CEO Brian Armstrong
What’s Next: The Dencun hard fork is scheduled for March 2024, which will see multiple Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) go live on the Ethereum mainnet.
Altcoin Daily tweeted “Ethereum is quietly approaching 3k with so many people still on the sidelines thinking this will be a 'bitcoin only' cycle.”
Another analyst is also bullish:
Read Next: Ethereum Tops $2,600 Following Inflation Data; Beam Emerges As Top Gainer
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