After taking a backseat during the initial six months of the year, Ethereum (ETH) has now surged ahead of Bitcoin (BTC) in terms of price performance during the latter half of 2023. An essential on-chain indicator has unveiled an improved investor sentiment towards Ethereum’s price over recent months.
In the first half of 2023, ETH’s price demonstrated a growth of 58%, climbing from $1,200 on January 1 to $1,900 on June 30. In contrast, Bitcoin achieved gains of 83%, outperforming ETH as well as other notable risk-on assets in the traditional financial (TradFi) markets.
While in negative territory, the crypto price performance chart for H2 2023 currently shows a range of -13% to -15% in favor of Ethereum. Will the leading smart contract platform be able to orchestrate a second-half comeback in the upcoming months?
Bitcoin Dominance Substantially Decreased in the Second Half of 2023
Over the last two months, there has been a consistent decrease in Bitcoin Dominance (BTC.D) as cryptocurrency investors shifted their attention towards the altcoin market. The TradingView chart provided below illustrates that BTC.D reached its highest point of 52% by the close of June 2023.
However, from that point onwards, Bitcoin has experienced a decline of 3 percentage points, bringing it to approximately 49.28% as of August 24th.
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BTC.D monitors the proportion of the overall global cryptocurrency market value attributed to BTC. A continuous decline in BTC Dominance signifies a change in market sentiment and the movement of investors’ funds towards alternative cryptocurrencies.
Given that Ethereum serves as the primary flagship altcoin, there is a possibility of ETH’s price surpassing BTC’s in the latter half of the year if this trend continues.
In the midst of a cryptocurrency market decline, attention turns to Ethereum from investors.
After the volatile altcoin market crash of the previous week, Ethereum is teetering on the edge of entering the recovery phase. As per the daily Relative Strength Index (RSI) data, the ETH RSI has crossed above the crucial 30 threshold from below, briefly reaching 33 on August 24th.
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The Relative Strength Index evaluates the strength and momentum of a current price movement in an asset. When the RSI rises above the 30 level from below following a notable price correction, it indicates an increasing bullish momentum.
To sum up, the existing oversold condition could potentially lead to a bullish turnaround for ETH in the upcoming days. Additionally, as Bitcoin cedes ground to altcoins, the Ethereum price stands favorably positioned to continue surpassing BTC in the approaching months.
Prediction for ETH Price: Robust Consolidation Maintained Above $1,500
As Ethereum continues to capture investors’ attention in the latter half of the year, the ETH price is anticipated to showcase heightened resilience against prevalent market uncertainties.
This premise is further accentuated by the In/Out of Money Around Price data, which illustrates the distribution of entry prices for current ETH holders. This data reveals that approximately 5.11 million investors acquired around 7.04 million ETH coins at an average price of $1,580. This accumulation could potentially offer substantial support, particularly if crypto investors maintain their focus on alternative markets.
However, in the event that the bears manage to breach this resistance level, there is a possibility that Ethereum’s price could dip below $1,500, marking the first instance since March 2023.
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Ethereum (ETH) Price Forecast | IOMAP Insights, August 2023 | Source: IntoTheBlock
Nonetheless, bullish momentum might take the lead if the ETH price undergoes a recovery beyond the $2,000 threshold. Notably, around 6.65 million addresses accumulated approximately 6.14 million ETH at the peak price of $1,900. Should these addresses decide to liquidate their positions, there’s a possibility of an ETH price retracement.
Conversely, a scenario where the ETH price surpasses that of Bitcoin could potentially enable the bulls to swiftly regain the $2,000 mark.