• Ethereum (ETH) hit its highest level in 8 months on Wednesday, trading in the mid-$1,900s.
• The upcoming Shapella upgrade will allow for more flexible Ether staking withdrawals, and could lead to short-term selling pressure on ETH.
• Most analysts view the Shapella upgrade as a long-term positive for the network and expect ETH will reach an all-time high by 2023.
Ethereum Price Hits 8-Month High
Ether (ETH), the world’s second most valuable cryptocurrency by market capitalization that powers the world’s most widely used smart-contract-enabled Ethereum blockchain, hit its highest level in a little under eight months this week in the mid-$1,900s. After experiencing a modest pullback ETH was last changing hands in the mid-$1,800s.
Technical Outlook Remains Positive
Despite its recent drop, ETH’s near-term technical outlook remains good. It has been finding decent support from its 21-Day Moving Average and all of its other major moving averages are on the rise consecutively. Moreover, ETH’s 14-Day Relative Strength Index is not yet in overbought territory signaling reduced risk of near term profit taking.
Shapella Upgrade Approaching
A series of key upgrades to the Ethereum blockchain are scheduled for April 12th known as “Shapella” which will allow for withdrawal of staked Ether tokens among other things. Most analysts view this development as a long term positive for the network since it is assumed that more flexible staking withdrawals will eventually attract many more ETH owners into staking their tokens. However some have warned that there could be short term price pressures as investors sell ETH tokens held in staking contracts for a long time.
Will Ethereum Reach A New High By 2023?
Even if ETH experiences post Shapella upgrade dip, most expect it to be short lived given macro tailwinds such as expectations that Federal Reserve will be cutting interest rates and strong technical indicators such as 200DMA bounce back from last month and golden cross from early February suggesting medium term bullishness.
Conclusion
The upcoming Shapella upgrade will likely attract new investors into Ether staking and potentially lead to short term selling pressure however overall it is viewed positively by analysts who anticipate that Ether could reach an all time high by 2023 due to macro tailwinds and strong technical indicators pointing towards medium term bullishness