decrypt.co
Ethereum could be headed for its strongest cycle yet, according to analysts at CryptoQuant.
At the time of writing, Ethereum has been changing hands for $4,603 after having gained nearly 4% in the past day and over 7% compared to this time last week, according to crypto price aggregator CoinGecko.
CryptoQuant Head of Research Julio Moreno credits institutional demand—from treasury companies and spot ETFs—and a steep uptick in staking as primary drivers boosting the price of $ETH.
“This synchronized accumulation indicates that Ethereum is increasingly viewed as a long-term strategic asset by large capital allocators, similar to Bitcoin’s trajectory post-ETF approval,” Moreno wrote. “This level of institutional endorsement provides a robust long-term tailwind for Ethereum's price and perceived legitimacy.”
It’s normal during big bull runs to see whales wake up and sell at least a portion of their holdings to take profits. After all, multi-year whales are usually sitting on substantial paper profits. But despite the bullish price action waking a few Ethereum whales, several woke up to buy more—and at least one large scale holder moved $645 million in $ETH so they could stake it.
“Meanwhile, exchange inflows have declined, easing selling pressure, but realized price bands indicate $ETH is approaching historically significant price resistance,” he wrote in a report shared with Decrypt, adding that “consolidation or correction is likely unless $ETH decisively breaks above this band.”
Momentum is building among users on Myriad, a prediction market owned by Decrypt’s parent company DASTAN, that Ethereum will surge to $5,000 before it pulls back to $3,500. Optimists who think $ETH will reach $5,000 have grown from about 61% at the start of the week to 73% at the time of writing. Over the same period, Ethereum’s price has increased by about 7%.
There are also signs that futures traders are feeling more certain of where $ETH could be headed.
Open interest, which is a measure of outstanding futures and options contracts on derivatives exchanges, has increased 3.4% in the past day. Total $ETH open interest now sits at $62.45 billion, according to crypto analytics platform CoinGlass.