- Ethereum blasted through its all time high yesterday, hitting $1,695
- If it can flip previous resistance into support then $2,000 is on the cards in the near future
- Gas fees have spiked to around $60, causing traders of decentralized exchanges to seek out cheaper deals
Ethereum finally blasted through resistance at the hundredth time of asking, rising out of a dangerous looking ascending wedge to set new all-time highs. As usual this was accompanied by a spike in gas fees, with Uniswap transactions costing in the region of $60, forcing users to look elsewhere for cheaper services, which are now finally starting to roll out.
Ethereum Breaks Out of Ascending Wedge
Ethereum had been moving within a rising wedge since the start of the year, which, given thaty this is typically a bearish pattern, had some rightly worried that it was going to break down. Instead however it broke out yesterday, firmly surpassing its all time high and hitting $1,695:
If it can turn the resistance line into support then a march on $2,000 could happen sooner rather than later, especially with the momentum clearly being with alts as it is right now. The move coincided with a positive Bitcoin move too, although Ethereum was the bigger gainer of the two:
The move occurred just four days before the CME Ethereum futures launch, an event that has caused some circumspection in the cryptocurrency space. Some believe that Ethereum will suffer the same fate as Bitcoin when Bitcoin futures were announced in December 2017, and that this pump is a prelude to a topping out in a futures-induced correction.
Others argue however that Ethereum is in a different place to where Bitcoin was in 2017, with the fact that it underpins the DeFi movement and the fact that we are still early in the bull market rather than being in the tail end means that a quick-fire dump is not on the cards.
Gas Prices Boom Too
One thing that everyone can agree on is the insanity that has become Ethereum transaction fees in recent days. Simple trades are now costing in the region of $50-$60 with no guarantee of success, raising the prospect again that many new entrants are being put off experimenting with the space for this reason. This has caused traders to leave the likes of Uniswap and try out exchanges such as 1inch and Zero, which have vastly reduced fees compared to Uniswap, which relies solely on the ETH gas prices.
While these technologies are in their infancy compared to Ethereum and even Uniswap, it’s a relief that the issue of fees is finally being addressed.
