ETH is still down 71.3% from the all-time high reached in November, while the overall crypto market continues consolidating. Since many exchanges offer staking services, users can invest less than 32 to run a validation node.
The price of Ether (ETH) tests relevant psychological levels as it gets closer to the latest peak of the market cycle.
Ether is still building on the weekend gains during the Asian trading session this morning. The crypto asset rose to USD 1,412, adding 20% to its value over the last week.
ETH outperforms Bitcoin with a 3.6% gain over the last 24 hours, while BTC has dropped by 0.5%.
Crypto analyst and trader Bluntz pointed out that the price of ETH has recovered from the 200-week moving average, which might indicate it has bottomed out.
A Three-Day Pump Might Be a Bullish Trap
The long-awaited Merge of the Ethereum network with the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) protocol, scheduled for September 19th, has fueled the momentum.
The Ethereum developers recently ran another shadow fork to test elements of The Merge involving MEV (maximum extractable value). The final testing phase on the Goerli testnet will occur on August 11th.
However, the bears are not yet out of danger, as ETH is still down 71.3% from the all-time high reached in November. In addition, the overall crypto market is still consolidating.
Fed interest rate hikes and news about the recession in late July might trigger a final capitulation. If that brings the price of Bitcoin (BTC) back below USD 20,000, Ether will likely follow it.
A three-day pump could be a bullish trap as the asset has suffered a downward trend over the last eight months. It is relevant to remember that bearish markets usually last a bit longer than that.
However, those investing in ETH have been gradually hoarding the crypto asset. CoinShares reported that institutional inflows have returned to Ethereum-based products and funds, while there has been a massive Bitcoin sell-off.
Exchanges Increasingly Offer Ethereum Staking Services
On-chain analytics firm Glassnode recently reported that the addresses holding over 32 ETH reached a 16-month high.
Thirty-two is the number of tokens required to run a validation node. However, investors can invest less than that as many exchanges offer staking services.
According to explorer Beacon Chain, there is 13,089,105 ETH in staking. That is equivalent to around USD 18.3 billion and represents almost 11% of the total circulating supply.
Some analysts have speculated that there will be a significant sell-off of Ethereum once it breaks free from staking after the Merger.
However, the developers have confirmed they will not unlock everything to ensure network security and consensus.
Ether is trading at around USD 1,487 and has accumulated a 9.7% gain over the last 24 hours. While its daily trading volume is above USD 21.53 billion, its market capitalization is about USD 178.17billion, according to CoinGecko.
By Alexander Salazar
