Ethereum (ETH) rose above $1,900 on Wednesday evening ahead of the upcoming Shanghai Upgrade
The cryptocurrency, which is the second-largest by market capitalization, was trading at $1,913, up approximately 2.2%. Earlier in the day, ETH hit $1,941, its highest level since August 2022.
Technical analysis-based research firm Fairlead Strategies‘ Senior Analyst, Will Tamplin, suggested that Ether may continue to push higher out of a flag pattern, which supports near-term upside follow-through.
The Shanghai upgrade, also known as Shapella, marks Ethereum’s full transition to a proof-of-stake (PoS) network and will allow for staked ETH withdrawals.
It is set to go live on April 12. Tamplin believes that ETH will likely face initial resistance near $2,000, which roughly aligns with the August 2022 high. Its initial support is near $1,670.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin (BTC), the largest cryptocurrency by market value, remained mostly unchanged from Tuesday, trading at around $28,280. For much of the past three weeks, BTC has been range-bound between $27,000 and $28,500.
According to Greg Magadini, director of derivatives at crypto analytics firm Amberdata, ETH’s 25-delta calls have become more expensive than ETH’s 25-delta puts.
This indicates that traders prefer upside exposure, with the call buyer being bullish on the market and the put buyer being bearish. Delta is a risk metric that estimates the change in price of a derivative, such as an options contract.
ETH is continuing to turn deflationary, with its annualized inflation rate currently sitting at -0.32%, according to data from ultrasound.money. This means that the amount of ETH being burned is more than what is being minted.
Lido DAO’s LDO and Rocket Pool’s RPL, the liquid staking protocols’ governance tokens, both rose over 2%, according to CoinGecko’s data.
Among other altcoins, cross-chain bridge protocol Stargate Finance’s native STG token gained more than 14% on Wednesday, while encrypted messaging protocol Mask Network’s MASK token sank 4%. The CoinDesk Market Index, which measures overall crypto market performance, recently increased 0.6% from a day ago.
Singapore-based crypto options trading firm QCP Capital said in a Telegram broadcast on April 4 that “if Q2 does indeed prove to be an alt-driven quarter, in a replay of 2020, then we expect the best trade would be to fade any sharp vol rallies from here on both BTC or ETH.”
The firm added that “if we are really in the replay of 2020, then Q2 consolidation will prove to be a short pause before the uptrend resumes in Q3/Q4.”
The timing of this will be decided by how quickly the Fed changes course in the face of the rapidly slowing economy
Ethereum Shanghai Upgrade
In Summary Ethereum (ETH) has risen above $1,900 ahead of the upcoming Shanghai hard fork, marking Ethereum’s full transition to a proof-of-stake (PoS) network.
Technical analysis-based research firm Fairlead Strategies’ Senior Analyst, Will Tamplin, suggested that Ether may continue to push higher out of a flag pattern, which supports near-term upside follow-through. Meanwhile, Bitcoin (BTC) remained mostly unchanged from Tuesday, trading at around $28,280.