Ethereum Market Update: ETH/USD skyrockets to new 2020 high

• Ethereum has been supported by a combination of technical and fundamental factors.
• ETH popularity may be more a curse than a blessing.
• Short-term important support is created by 50-hour SMA.

Ethereum, the second-largest digital asset, hit $287.17 on Friday, July 24. This is the highest level of 2020. By the time of writing, ETH/USD retreated to $284.48, though it is still nearly 5% higher on a day-to-day basis. On a weekly basis, ETH/USD has gained over 21% and became the best-performing asset out of top-20. Ethereum's market value has increased to $30.7 billion, while its average daily trading volume settled above $9.6 billion, off a recent multi-month high of $10 billion hit on July 23. 

What's going on

Ethereum is well-supported by a combination of technical and fundamental factors. Thus, a sustainable move above the critical channel resistance of $240.00 created a strong bullish impulse that allowed the price to clear several important barriers. 

Apart from that, the growing popularity of DeFi services also creates un upside momentum for ETH as most of the DeFi coin are based on ETH blockchain.  As FXStreet reported, DeFi boom is upon us and it is comparable with the ICO craze of 2017.

However, the interest in DeFi protocols increases the trading volume on the Ethereum blockchain, which leads to higher transaction fees and put the whole blockchain under strain. It heightened the importance of the Ethereum 2.0 release that is supposed to solve these scalability issues. 

ETH/USD: Technical picture

On the intraday charts, ETH/USD is moving along the upward-looking middle line of the 1-hour Bollinger Band at $282.50. A sustainable move below this line will bring $280.00 into focus. However, stronger support is created by a combination of 50-hour SMA and the lower line of the 1-hour Bollinger Band at $275.00. This area should slow down the correction.

On the upside, the local resistance is created by $285.00. Once it is out of the way, the upside is likely to gain traction with the next focus on the new 2020 high of $287.18, while the ultimate bullish goal is $300.00.

ETH/USD 1-hour chart

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