The recent gains of Ether mean that its price is now up 15% in one month compared to SOL’s 82%.
The price of Ethereum (ETH) gained on Wednesday to further signal an industry-wide expectation of a rallying outlook in January. This is as investors continue to move into position as they await the expected uptrend.
However, Ether’s recent gain – though not entirely surprising – has been an interesting watch. According to CoinMetrics, ETH saw a 6% rise in its price on Wednesday, while Solana’s SOL token, one of the top performers in crypto this year, was up just 2%.
Ether (ETH) Playing Catch-Up?
It might appear so. For the better part of the year, ETH was outperformed by other Layer 1s. So, the recent gains only go to show that money may just be finding its way back into the Ethereum ecosystem. And, interestingly, it has chosen the few days before the key upside catalysts expected in January.
Needham analyst John Todaro also shared the same sentiment. In an interview with CNBC, he said:
“Solana and Avax among others have outperformed ETH, and now ETH is playing catch up on the rotation.”
The recent gains of Ether mean that its price is now up 15% in the month compared to SOL’s 82%.
In terms of performance, Ether has been nowhere near SOL throughout 2023. So far in the year, it has recorded only a 95% price surge. Whereas SOL, on the other hand, has seen over a 980% rise in its price.
However, seeing as Wednesday showed ETH doing a significantly higher price gain, the market may finally be back into an ETH-focused trade. According to Matt Maximo, a senior research analyst at Grayscale Investments, it is not a matter of “if” but “when” ETH will catch up.
Upcoming Key Events
As earlier mentioned, investors are keenly eyeing two major events that are expected to take place in January. The first is Ethereum’s big “Dencun” upgrade, which is slated for around January 17. According to Maximo, the upgrade is focused on cutting down the costs associated with Ethereum’s Layer 2 solutions.
Another thing that has caught the attention of investors is the potential approval of a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). Investors have been taking a close look at ongoing developments between the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and some of the top applicants for a spot Bitcoin ETF. It is believed that the SEC will decide on the matter in the early days of January.
As it is, Todaro believes that some investors may already be trading on the optimism that once the SEC approves a spot Bitcoin ETF, a spot Ether ETF could be next.
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