The Ethereum rate has not risen as much as Bitcoin in the last few days. The Ether token, though, has also experienced a strong increase in the last 2 weeks.
The Ethereum course has experienced a stronger rise in recent days. The price fell to $1,400 during the US banking crisis. After that, however, the price rose sharply, and it was recently even able to reach the $1,800 mark again.
The percentage increase in Ethereum was not as massive as the increase in the price of Bitcoin. However, among altcoins, Ethereum was able to perform extremely well. More recently, the price has dipped slightly again, and it is currently around $1,750.
What Is Making the Ethereum Price So High Right Now?
The increase in the price of Bitcoin in recent days is mainly explained by the uncertainty in the FIAT system. People want to hedge their money in Bitcoin. This aspect may also play a role in Ethereum, as some investors also believe in Ethereum’s stability in crises.
However, one factor could also be the increased likelihood that the US Federal Reserve will refrain from raising interest rates further in the coming days. This could be a sign of a return to easy money to support banks. Ethereum could also benefit from this.
Additionally, the Shapella update is a new update for Ethereum. This has already been activated on the testnet. This update aims to make it possible for staking tokens that have been locked to be released again.
The Shanghai update is almost complete, and it is scheduled to go live on April 12, 2023. This update will allow the withdrawal of ETH staked on the Beacon chain. The lead developers approved the deadline with epoch 620, 9536 in an execution layer meeting, and lead developer Tim Beiko confirmed the release via his tweet.
In addition to allowing withdrawals from the Beacon chain, the Shanghai update includes five other improvements. In December 2020, validators were required to stake 32 ETH on the ETH 2.0 smart contract to activate the Beacon chain. Since then, validators have continued to bet, and the smart contract now holds over 17.6 million ETH, valued at nearly $30 billion. This has raised concerns about a sell-off.
After the successful Merger of the Beacon chain with Mainnet, the network’s roadmap includes Surge, Verge, Purge, and Splurge. The developers have done extensive testing to ensure that ETH withdrawals staked since the merger work properly. All tests were implemented on Ethereum testnets to ensure smooth operation, with the latest one, Goerli, experiencing a low participation rate.
Will We See $2,000 Again Soon?
Due to the increases of the last few weeks, the Ethereum price has again approached the $2,000 mark. Ethereum was last able to reach this value again in August 2022. At that time, there was some hype about the Ethereum merger.
If the market’s uptrend continues, we could see a rally to $2,000 in the next few days. The upcoming meeting of the US Federal Reserve on Wednesday could already shed some light.
By Audy Castaneda
