While Ethereum (ETH) once again failed to break the stubborn $4,000 resistance level, BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust ETF has quietly succeeded. Accumulated Over 1 million ETH. This achievement reflects strong institutional demand for Ethereum, even as its price performance in 2024 remains lackluster.
Institutional interest in Ethereum is on the rise
Year-to-date, Ethereum — the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap — is up 43%, rising from around $2,280 on January 1 to $3,283 at the time of writing. While this is notable, ETH’s performance has been overshadowed by other cryptocurrencies such as XRP, Solana (SOL), and SUI, which achieved much higher gains in the same period.
However, Ethereum has a key advantage over most altcoins – direct access to institutional investors through regulated ETFs, similar to Bitcoin’s market position. Recently mail On X Day, cryptocurrency entrepreneur Dan Gambardello highlighted that BlackRock’s ETF has now surpassed 1 million ETH in holdings.
ETH’s consolidation below its all-time high (ATH), combined with growing institutional interest, sets the stage for a potential replacement season “unlike any we’ve ever seen,” Gambardello noted. Recent ETH ETF flow data appears to support these expectations.
according to Data From SoSoValue, US ETH ETFs had four straight weeks of net inflows, attracting more than $2 billion in capital. The total net assets held in all US ETH ETFs is $12.15 billion, equivalent to approximately 3% of the total market cap of Ethereum.
Cryptocurrency analysts remain optimistic about the existence of the leading smart contract platform Ethereum path To access a new ATH. For example, CryptosRus noted that historically, Ethereum has shown bullish price movement during the first four months of next year, following the US presidential elections.
The chart below shows that after the 2016 US election, Ethereum rose significantly during the first quarter of 2017. A similar pattern was observed in 2021 after the 2020 election, where Ethereum recorded four consecutive weeks of price increases.
From a technical perspective, cryptocurrency analyst @CryptoPoseidonn shared an 8-hour chart of Ethereum, suggesting that Ethereum may bottom near the 200-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA), highlighted in green. The analyst stated:
First pullback since the last big bull move, and fear is at its peak. I think this is where we make a higher low. Such declines are opportunities to increase immediate exposure.
Is the market correction coming to an end?
The total cryptocurrency market capitalization has fallen from $3.9 trillion on December 16 to $3.4 trillion at the time of writing – a loss of $500 billion in a week. Coinglass data reveals that liquidations worth over $289 million occurred in the past 24 hours alone.
Despite this downturn, veteran cryptocurrency analyst Pintucci Suggested On the 3-day chart, the breakout could be a retest of the previous cryptocurrency market cap ATH recorded in November 2022. If so, this level could serve as a base for the next bullish rally.
However, not all analysts are optimistic in the short term. Recently, famous crypto entrepreneur Arthur Hayes to caution From a possible market decline around the inauguration of Donald Trump in January. At press time, Ethereum is trading at $3,283, up 1.2% over the past 24 hours.
Featured image from Unsplash.com, charts from X and TradingView.com