Ethereum Leads Rally as Investors Wake Up to Marketwide Sea of Green

Investors have woken up on Monday, Feb 18 to price upswings on both the Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) charts. The price volatility has been relatively low since the start of the year and the experts have had a divided opinion on whether the bottom is yet in or not.  

Ethereum Leading the Market

During this current price spark, Ethereum (ETH) is the clear leader in performance and has brought the whole market up with it. Ethereum has, until recently, had a relatively bad 2018 — with price continuously falling throughout the year. However, in 2019, Ethereum managed to reverse its price course and hasn’t traded under $100 since. While Ethereum has had a huge success enabling initial coin offerings (ICO) for teams that want to build something on top of the platform, the ICO craze has led to many projects taking advantage of the market and raising funds — without actually delivering any results in the aftermath. This has played out badly for investors that entered various ICOs, as many projects have ceased their activity or have run out of funds. Partly because of this, the Ethereum started to lose steam and fell off in the second part of 2018 — reaching lows below $100. Due to its massive price fall, metrics have indicated that the second largest cryptocurrency by market cap had fallen into undervalued territory. Furthermore, Ethereum’s reputation has lately pivoted to a platform for decentralized finance (DeFi) products like the flourishing Maker Dai. Hence the move that brought Ethereum this morning to over $140 is a hugely positive sign for the markets and may have confirmed the coin’s underappreciated value.

Technical Analysis Providing An Optimistic Outlook

Another reason for the sudden price surge is the upcoming network upgrade for Ethereum. The Constantinople forking event may only have a temporary effect on markets, however — as has been observed for other cryptocurrencies as well. Still, this price move is a source of optimism among investors. For one, Ethereum had broken through its 100-day moving average (MA) for the first time since May 2018.

Also worth noting is the higher level of "clean USD" contributing to the pump.

BTC and USDT are still dominant but USD (blue) reached near 16% as the markets moved higher. pic.twitter.com/65gDZuqmf8

— Mati Greenspan (tweets ≠ financial advice) (@MatiGreenspan) February 18, 2019

The second indicative metric is the high buying volume that is being observed during the move — which is widely regarded as a strong signal for a continuation of the trend. Last, but not least, the relative amount of U.S. dollars (USD) used to buy Ethereum has suddenly increased. This means that fresh new fiat is entering the market and is buying directly into Ethereum. Obviously, this is extremely positive for the price of the altcoin — in the short term, at least. The bear market of 2018 lingers on and should be always taken into account — even during price rallies like these. Traders will certainly look to take advantage of the high percentage swing, while investors will be happy to see their Ethereum holdings recovering well after the torrid end of 2018. What do you think? Has Ethereum (ETH) found a bottom in December, or is this a temporary rally before the Constantinople upgrade? Share your opinion in the comments! 

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Image courtesy of Twitter, Shutterstock. [Disclaimer: This article is not intended to be financial advice, and should not be taken as such. Always consult with a trained financial professional before making any investment decisions.]