With a 9.7% jump in the ETH, is the crypto market finally “bullish”?
The price of the second largest cryptocurrency, the ETH (ether), shot up 9.7% from $245 to $269 in just 10 minutes at around 6:30 am (UTC+8) on July 23.
The price was the highest since February, when ETH plunged to as low as $95 in March as global asset markets took a beating following the coVID-19 pandemic.
Led by ETH, mainstream cryptocurrencies such as BTC and BCH have also experienced a wave of growth, which is particularly important after an 11-week sideways run in the cryptocurrency market.
DeFi continues to thrive and some market participants believe ETH is undervalued
In the past two months, the concept of decentralized finance (DeFi) has become increasingly frenzied and the associated DeFi token has exploded, but the ETH on which DeFi is based has been slow to appreciate, leaving many in the industry puzzled.
But there are those in the industry who think ETH is undervalued right now. Ryan Sean Adams, a partner at Bankless, said before ETH’s big jump today:
“Staking+DeFi is going to put far more demand on ETH than ICOs everdid.ETHat $243 is hilarious.”
This represents a common view among Ethereum enthusiasts that DeFi has a positive impact on ETH.
Ethereum 2.0 is approaching.Is it market expectations that are causing the boom?
There are, of course, other voices in the market who suggest that the ETH’s sudden surge may be related to the timing of the launch of ethereum 2.0’s mainnet.Just yesterday, developers said that the final beta of Ethereum 2.0 would launch on August 4, with the mainnet likely to go live as early as November 4.
This news, of course, had been reported as early as yesterday, and it did not seem that the short bursts of ETH had much to do with it.
Also of note, early this morning the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced that it had allowed federally chartered Banks to offer encrypted custodial services to customers. It is a positive sign that could have broader implications for the market.
Central Banks around the world continue their stimulus programs
More recently, the European Union announced another 857 billion Euro stimulus package, and the Federal Reserve will follow with another $1–2 trillion.These floods have sent tremors through asset markets around the world.In traditional markets, silver had a strong start to the week, with assets up 19.25%, while gold continued to rally, reaching a new high of $1,874 today.
It is clear that these stimulus packages have had a significant impact on investor behaviour, and bitcoin has similar properties to gold, so some market observers believe that some money will flow into the cryptocurrency market, but for now this seems like wishful thinking.
Is the market heading for a big bull market?Or just a flash in the pan?Your comments are welcome.
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ZB Group was founded in 2012 with the goal of providing leadership to the blockchain development space and today manages a network that includes digital assets exchanges, wallets, capital ventures, research institutes, and media. The Group’s flagship platform is ZB.com, the industry leading digital asset exchange. The platform launched in early 2013 and boasts one of the world’s largest trading communities.
ZB Group also includes ZBG the innovative crypto trading platform, and BW.com, the world’s first mining-pool based exchange. Other holdings include wallet leader BitBank, as well as exchange brands ZBM, ZBX and Korea’s Bithi.
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