Ethereum hits new all-time high near $2K as analyst says 2021 bull run is different
|Ether (ETH) hit fresh all-time highs and neared $2,000 for the first time on Feb. 18 as momentum returned to trading.
ETH/USD 1-day candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView
ETH sets sights on $2,000
Data from Cointelegraph Markets and Tradingview showed ETH/USD coming within 4% of the $2,000 barrier on Thursday.
After spending much of February trading sideways with modest upward momentum, the largest altcoin reawakened this week. At the time of writing, daily gains totaled more than 4%, with Ether clocking new all-time highs of $1,930.
In a fresh market update, Cointelegraph Markets analyst Michaël van de Poppe forecast a potential breakout to $2,200 should bulls successfully tackle $2,000.
Due to the extended period spent at just below that level, however, it was important that these hold as support in order to avoid a dramatic retracement.
“However, once again, quite a tricky breakout, so you basically have to watch that zone... at $1,820,” he summarized.
A failure of support would in turn bring $1,400 back into play, this potentially coming if Bitcoin (BTC) also sees a correction from near all-time highs of its own, Van de Poppe added.
As Cointelegraph reported, Ether’s gains have outstripped Bitcoin in 2021, with year-to-date gains of 164% versus around 85% for BTC/USD.
BTC and ETH year-to-date performance. Source: Digital Assets Data
Sellers fail to materialize
Meanwhile, data coming to light this week sheds some light on long-closed events, which could have aided Ether’s meteoric rise.
Published by Ki Young Ju, CEO of on-chain analytics service CryptoQuant, withdrawal figures for Coinbase show three very large tranches of around 200,000 ETH leaving the exchange for private wallets in 2020.
Coinbase ETH outflows chart. Source: CryptoQuant
According to Ki, these could have come in the form of large volume investors closing over-the-counter (OTC) deals similar to what was previously observed with Bitcoin.
“There were three consecutive massive $ETH outflows from Coinbase cold wallets last year,” he wrote in comments alongside a chart showing the transactions.
“Speculative guess but those might be OTC deals for institutional investors like $BTC Coinbase outflows.”
Ki suggested that it may be worth setting alerts to monitor similar behavior in case this is a trigger for price performance.
"$ETH all-time high in 2021 is different from 2018," he added in a further tweet on Thursday.
"Fewer deposits, more withdrawals across all exchanges. Selling pressure significantly weaker than in 2018."
Information on these pages contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Markets and instruments profiled on this page are for informational purposes only and should not in any way come across as a recommendation to buy or sell in these assets. You should do your own thorough research before making any investment decisions. FXStreet does not in any way guarantee that this information is free from mistakes, errors, or material misstatements. It also does not guarantee that this information is of a timely nature. Investing in Open Markets involves a great deal of risk, including the loss of all or a portion of your investment, as well as emotional distress. All risks, losses and costs associated with investing, including total loss of principal, are your responsibility. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of FXStreet nor its advertisers.