Crypto analytics firm Santiment is taking a close look at leading smart contract platform Ethereum (ETH) in advance of the project’s upcoming shift from a proof-of-work (PoW) to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism.
According to a new post, the data aggregator highlights the chatter on social media in advance of the mid-September transition to ETH 2.0 as a key indicator of how the crypto asset will likely move prior to the upgrade.
“With Ethereum’s final testnet merge Thursday, prices briefly jumped above $1,900. Developers confirmed that the much anticipated ETH upgrade will happen on September 15th or 16th.
Social volume will dictate price volatility leading up to the event.”
Santiment next examines both Ethereum and the overall altcoin field, noting that despite a market-wide rally over the past month, traders are not behaving so exuberantly as to risk a flash crash.
“Ethereum’s +80% price increase has gained the most attention of any asset over the past 30 days, but altcoins in general have been in a great place since late June. There isn’t major euphoria happening, either, which is a sign things can continue.”
Digging deeper into the charts, Santiment makes two observations about Ethereum, suggesting that ETH remains in a bullish path.
“Ethereum surged back over $1,880 after a positive CPI report Wednesday.
This two-month high in price came with a major influx of ETH transactions valued at $100,000 or more. This is happening in tandem with whale addresses appearing to be accumulating.”
Earlier in the week, the analytics firm called attention to the Ethereum network hitting a yearly milestone by averaging more than 546,000 daily active addresses over the past month just as its price surpassed $1,800 for the first time in 60 days.
“Ethereum has jumped above $1,800 for the first time in two months today. Powered by a steadily rising rate of unique addresses interacting on the ETH network, continued recovery will depend on BTC staying relatively stable, and mitigated trader FOMO.”
Ethereum continues to rally after its mid-week surge, up another 4.30% over the past 24 hours and changing hands for $1,963.
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