Ethereum, often seen as the digital gold of the world, continuously maintains its position on the podium of the most valuable digital currencies. In recent days, the price of Ethereum has reached levels not seen for almost two years, breaking the magical barrier of $3,000, which is a significant milestone since April 2022. The current valuation, hovering around $3,175, indicates over a 7% increase in the last week, resulting from both growing investment interest and speculation.
Market interest, measured among other things by the size of open positions, has reached a multi-year high at $7.7 billion. This signals that new capital driven not only by speculation but also by hedging strategies is flowing into the market.
The central point of the upcoming changes is a network update named “Dencun.” It aims to solve one of the biggest technological challenges of blockchain – the scalability problem. Thanks to the introduction of so-called “proto-danksharding,” Ethereum is expected to become faster and cheaper to use, which is possible through second-layer solutions. These allow grouping unverified transactions made on Ethereum, processing them on an external network, and then sending confirmation back to the main network.
Initiatives from traditional Wall Street financial institutions are also on the horizon, hoping for the approval of Ethereum-based exchange-traded products. Such a fund, upon receiving approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), could bring this asset closer to traditional investors. Financial giants such as BlackRock, VanEck, and Grayscale are waiting for the regulator’s decision. It’s worth noting that in January, the SEC approved 10 Bitcoin-based ETFs, which enjoy high popularity and attract significant capital flows.
The British multinational bank Standard Chartered predicts that an Ethereum-based ETF will be approved no later than May, which could cause the asset’s price to rise to over $4,000 per coin. Despite the recent increase, Ethereum still remains below its all-time high from November 2021, when the price of one coin reached $4,878.
In the context of these changes and expectations, Ethereum emerges not only as an object of investor interest but primarily as a platform full of promising innovations that may redefine the future of blockchain technology and the entire digital currency ecosystem. Time will show how these changes will affect the digital landscape, but one thing is certain – Ethereum stands on the threshold of a new era.
Photo by Yiğit Ali Atasoy on Unsplash
