After a few difficult days, it seems the cryptocurrency markets are slowly returning to normal. The Ethereum price has climbed back above US$1,000 as of last night, after dipping all the way to US$799. It’s a remarkable bounce back, even though all markets are still in a bearish state right now. Moreover, Ethereum’s market capitalization has increased to over US$100 billion again, which is another positive development.
Ethereum Exhibits Strong Momentum
Although most people are keeping a close eye on what is happening to Bitcoin right now, it is evident that the worthwhile altcoins are recovering a lot quicker. For instance, it seems Ethereum is moving up in value rather quickly, even though Bitcoin is still struggling to surpass US$12,000. It is good to see the Ethereum price back above US$1,000, even while Bitcoin remains stuck. It is due time that altcoins decouple themselves from Bitcoin’s price once and for all, but that is much easier said than done.
Even the Ethereum price took a bit hit over the past few days. With all cryptocurrency markets in the red, it was not entirely surprising to see the Ethereum price dip all the way to US$799. Although that is an extremely low value for Ethereum, it was only a blip on the radar when looking at the bigger picture. Though the drop from US$1,375 all the way to US$799 was pretty steep, the market is back on track as we speak.
More specifically, the Ethereum price quickly bounced back from this major dip. It took a while to reach US$850 again, but ever since it did, the price quickly surged to US$1,000 and slightly beyond. At the time of writing, the Ethereum price hovered near the US$1,050 mark, although it remains to be seen if this will become the new stable support level. After all, there is still a lot of bearish momentum across all cryptocurrency markets, and it will take some time before we can remotely consider reaching new all-time highs.
With US$5.26 billion in trading volume over the past 24 hours, things are certainly looking good for this popular altcoin. It is good to see trading volume slowly picking back up for all cryptocurrencies, even though Bitcoin will remain the largest market by volume for quite some time. For now, there is plenty of demand to both buy and sell Ether, and if this volume keeps up, we may see the Ethereum price continue moving up.
With Binance becoming the largest Ethereum exchange in terms of 24-hour trading volume, an interesting situation is unfolding in front of our eyes. Bitfinex is not too far behind, and GDAX and OKEx are also within the same US$50 million range. It’s also worth noting that both the BTC and USDT trading markets on OKEx are growing very popular as we speak. Two fiat currency gateways in the top three indicate there’s some fresh capital entering the Ethereum ecosystem, which can only be considered a positive development.
For the time being, things are looking good for the Ethereum price. Do keep in mind that the market volatility is far from over, and overall growth may not materialize in the first quarter of 2018. Cryptocurrency markets have always been incredibly unpredictable, which means gains and losses can occur when people least expect them. It’s highly doubtful that the Ethereum price will reach US$1,250 anytime soon. To do so, the altcoin will need to decouple from Bitcoin sooner rather than later, as the world’s leading cryptocurrency will not move up by much in the coming weeks.
