Ethereum prices have surged to their highest levels in ten weeks, with the asset reaching $1,589 on the morning of Jan. 16th.
This represents a 3% increase over the past 24 hours and a 30% gain over the past two weeks. The asset has outperformed Bitcoin, which has only gained 27% over the same period and 2.1% on the day. The bullish momentum for Ethereum is rising a couple of months before the Shanghai upgrade, which will enable the phased withdrawal of staked ETH parked on the Beacon Chain for more than two years.
The Ethereum's on-chain fundamentals have also strengthened this year following a difficult 2022. According to the Ultrasound Money tracker, ETH issuance has fallen into deflationary territory again.
The current supply growth is -0.09% per year, meaning that more ETH is being destroyed than produced, which is a positive sign for the long-term. The Ethereum burn rate is currently around 732,000 ETH per year and the issuance rate is around 622,000 ETH annually. As gas prices increase, this will have a bigger impact on the burn rate, resulting in a higher deflation rate and a shrinking supply, which is very bullish for the long term.
Ethereum value settlement is also much higher than that of Bitcoin. Industry observers have reported that this month, the settlement value for Ethereum is almost ten times more than that on the Bitcoin network, with Ethereum settling over $21 billion a day in value while Bitcoin struggles to settle over $2.6 billion in value.
Overall, the crypto markets are still in the green during the Monday morning Asian trading session, gaining 1.7% on the day to reach $1.03 trillion, according to CoinGecko. The momentum over the past week has pushed markets to a ten-week high, eradicating all losses from the crash that followed the FTX collapse in early November. Other crypto assets performing well include Ripple (XRP), Polygon (MATIC), Shiba Inu (SHIB), and Near Protocol (NEAR).
Auteur: Brian Leclere
