In just the past month, Ethereum has appreciated to almost $3,900, indicative of the market’s increasing belief in its technology, ecosystem, and future potential. The recent price surge is the result of the confluence of technical factors, institutional buying and macroeconomic forces. Increased adoption due to network upgrades and overall crypto market growth are other key factors leading Ethereum’s growth.
Now, at the end of December 2024, Ethereum’s price has rocketed to $3,861. It even probed an intraday high of $3,908, nearing territory we haven’t felt since May! Ethereum is still the second largest cryptocurrency, with a total market capitalization of $451 billion. Ethereum’s market cap is currently five times less than Bitcoin. It’s still three times Tether’s size—emphasizing Ethereum’s dominance in the cryptocurrency market.
DeFi and NFT Dominance
Ethereum continues to dominate the decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible token (NFT) markets. In line with Ethereum’s popularity, it has an impressive $70 billion of total value locked across its ecosystem. Ethereum’s dominance in the altcoin space is something we’ve never seen before. Its market cap is larger than the next five largest cryptocurrencies, other than Bitcoin, added together.
This fact further emphasizes Ethereum’s crucial importance in leading all innovation and activity in the blockchain ecosystem. As such, the more projects and applications are built on Ethereum, the more valuable and useful it becomes. Not to mention, this adds even more credence to its position as being the top dog among cryptocurrencies.
Ethereum futures open interest has recently skyrocketed to an all-time high of almost $26 billion. Binance is leading that charge, doing more than $8 billion on trades in a given day. It builds on other recent research moves and further confirms the growing institutional confidence that Ethereum is a positive long-term investment asset. The increasing open interest implies that a greater number of investors are wagering on Ethereum’s upward price appreciation prospects.
Analyst Projections
Some of those same analysts are calling for Ethereum to go to five-digit values this cycle. Price prediction by Venturefounder Venturefounder expects Ethereum to break out of its three-year triangle consolidation to reach a price of $15,937 by May 2025.
Elja says when Ethereum finally breaks out it will be “legendary,” with a price target of $10,000.
Ethereum's bull run "has not even started yet." - Ethprofit.eth
That’s because increased hopes from the recent US-UK trade settlement easing global economic tensions helped establish a bullish tone for financial markets in general and Ethereum in particular. This encouraging macroeconomic backdrop has only added fuel to the investor sentiment fire. To add to that, it has snowballed the demand for Ethereum even more.
Macroeconomic Factors
This unexpected and positive outcome helped provide a much more conducive backdrop to risk assets. To that end, it has inspired investors to invest significant amounts of capital in the development of cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum.
This positive development has created a more favorable environment for risk assets. It has encouraged investors to allocate capital to cryptocurrencies like Ethereum.
