Is Ethereum Eyeing A New All-Time High?

Ethereum (ETH) is up by 9.77% in the last 24 hours to trade at $2,428 at the time of writing, according to CoinMarketCap. 

The second-largest cryptocurrency based on market capitalization has enjoyed a remarkable bull run ever since it breached the previous record of $1,400 set in 2018. ETH recently set a new all-time high (ATH) above $2,400. 

Crypto analyst Carl Martin tweeting under the pseudonym "The Moon" believes that the time has come for a new Ethereum all-time high. 

His sentiments are echoed by market trader Michael van de Poppe who recently acknowledged that Ethereum has set its eyes on the $5K price level.

A rally to $3,000 and beyond looks set

On-chain metrics provider Santiment delved into the current ETH rally and noted that an uptrend to $3k and beyond looked set thanks to booming non-fungible token (NFT) and decentralized finance (DeFi) sectors. 

More participants are joining the Ethereum network, as acknowledged by Glassnode. The crypto data provider disclosed that the number of ETH addresses holding more than 0.01 coins reached a record-high of 14,416,121.

With Ethereum’s Berlin hard fork going live on April 15 at block 12,244,000, increased gas efficiencies and enhanced protection against denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks are expected to be observed. The Berlin upgrade is an improvement to the present ETH 1.0 mainnet and comprises four Ethereum Improvement Protocols (EIPs).

Ethereum has been grappling with the challenge of high gas fees, which at one time made the DeFi sector impractical. Moreover, they were beyond the reach of the average trader. 

Ethereum 2.0, which was launched in December 2020, is also seen as a game-changer in tackling this problem. It seeks to transit the current proof-of-work consensus mechanism to a proof-of-stake framework, which is touted to be more environmentally friendly and cost-effective. 

As the clock ticks, time will tell whether Ethereum will continue hitting new ATHs as the year progresses.