Since the Shapella upgrade, Ether stakers have withdrawn $1.21 billion worth of ETH from Ethereum staking contracts. Despite hitting a six-month low against Bitcoin on April 18, the ETH/BTC pair has since entered a sharp price recovery, reaching 0.0709 BTC, up about 15% from its local bottom of 0.0602 BTC six days prior. Based on the fractal setup previously discussed, it is expected to run-up towards 0.075 BTC by June.
Interestingly, the formation of Ether’s local bottom versus Bitcoin occurred on the day of Ethereum’s long-awaited Shapella upgrade. The hard fork enables Ether stakers to withdraw their rewards from Ethereum’s proof-of-stake smart contract, and around 1.1 billion ETH were withdrawn. This update may have boosted ETH’s appeal compared to BTC, beating anticipations that a freshly unlocked Ether supply would increase sell-pressure.
According to data fetched by Nansen, stakers have withdrawn 574,700 ETH since the Shapella upgrade on April 12, worth about $1.21 billion. Ether’s price in U.S. dollar terms has increased by 14.25% in the same period, suggesting that many stakers have decided to hold onto their Ether rewards. Meanwhile, Bitcoin has failed to log a decisive breakout above its technical resistance of $30,000, possibly making ETH a more attractive short-term bet for traders.
Institutional investors have shown more interest in Bitcoin than Ether in the past week, according to CoinShares’ weekly report. Bitcoin-based investment vehicles witnessed $103.8 million in inflows in the week ending April 14, while Ethereum funds attracted $300,000 only. This indicates that mainstream investors may have followed the “sell the news” strategy after the Shapella upgrade.
However, Ethereum’s price is also at risk of a possible bearish reversal move due to its overbought daily relative strength index (RSI). If ETH retreats from its current resistance level of around $2,140, its immediate downside target appears at around $1,984, which acted as resistance in May 2022 and August 2022. An extended selloff could push Ether price down to its 50-day exponential moving average (50-day EMA; the red wave) near $1,800, down about 15% than its current price levels.
It is important to note that this article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.
