Ethereum price rises ahead of Merge upgrade, Bitcoin rises to $ 22k
(Kitco News) The crypto market is seeing a surge in sentiment as two of the world’s largest cryptocurrencies make solid gains, with Ethereum up more than 26% and Bitcoin 6% in the last seven days.
Ethereum’s jump coincided with some clarity about the upcoming merger.
The merger will see Ethereum switch to the more energy-efficient proof-of-stake protocol from the energy-intensive proof-of-work protocol, which Bitcoin also uses. Energy consumption after the merger will fall by 99.5%, and the issuance of new ETH tokens will be reduced by about 90%, with many analysts estimating that the price of Ethereum will rise.
To read more about the merger and what it means for the crypto market, click here.
The big news that preceded that rally was Ethereum developer Tim Beiko, who estimated that the merger would take place on 19 September. That date was shared by Beiko during the Ethereum developers’ conversation on Thursday. It is a soft timeline and is not final.
This merger timeline is not final, but it is extremely exciting to see it come together. Look at this as a planning timeline and watch out for official announcements! pic.twitter.com/MY8VFOv0SI
– superphiz.eth 🦇🔊🐼 (@superphiz) July 14, 2022
Following the news, Ethereum began to climb, most recently trading at $ 1,480, up almost 10% on the day and more than 26% over the last seven days.
Analysis of Ethereum price actions indicated that “whales” – large investors – bought up the token before the merger.
“On-chain data points to large investors looking to increase exposure to crypto, especially to ETH,” Lucas Outumuro, head of research at IntoTheBlock, said in his Friday newsletter. “The total ETH balance held by addresses marked as whales reached a record high this week. Addresses with over 1% of ETH in circulation have increased their positions.”
Bitcoin is also seeing a rise in prices as prices climb to over $ 22,000, up almost 5% in the last 24 hours.
The fact that the rally comes after another surprising inflation data from the US, with a CPI of 9.1% in June instead of the estimated 8.8%, may be a sign that a price bottom is in place for crypto, said Marcus Sotiriou, analyst at GlobalBlock.
“The result of [the inflation data] is another blow to economic and social well-being, as the Federal Reserve is forced to be more aggressive. However, Bitcoin has risen by over 10% since the news and Ethereum has climbed by almost 40%. When the market begins to react positively to negative news, this is a signal that a local bottom may be in for now, as fear may have led to the news being priced in “, Sotiriou wrote in a note on Monday.
However, more sideways price action is still very likely, according to Scott Melker, independent market analyst and host of The Wolf Of All Streets podcast.
“[Bitcoin] The price is still trading below 200 MA on the weekly, with 5 weekly bars below in a row … We are some distance away from breaking the bearish market structure and achieving a higher high. Weekly volume was unimpressive last week, so we will see what this week has in store for us, he said on Monday.
Other cryptocurrencies also recovered, with Polygon up 24% on the day and 64% over the last seven days. Solana was up almost 7% during the day, and Cardano was up 9% during the day.
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