Ethereum Breaks $1650 As Launch of CME’s ETH Futures Nears, Now Up 122% in 2021

According to data by TradingView, at 18:54 UTC on Wednesday (February 3), on crypto exchange Bitstamp, the Ether price surged past $1650 to set a new all-time high (ATH) — $1654.98 — one minute later.

Currently (as of 20:35 UTC on February 3), on Bitstamp, ETH-USD is trading around $1634.50, up 8.05% in the past 24-hour period and up 122.19% in the year-to-date (YTD) period. Ether’s market cap currently stands at $186.8 billion.

Interestingly, Ether set this new all-time high on the same day that Nasdaq-listed business intelligence software company MicroStrategy Inc. (NASDAQ: MSTR) held its two-day “Bitcoin for Corporations” summit (February 3rd, 12:00 – 4:45 pm EST; February 4th, 12:00 – 4:55 pm EST). At the time of writing (20:45 UTC), while BTC-USD is up 3.38%, ETH-USD is up 7.39%.

One of the main reasons for the current level of excitement around Ethereum is the upcoming launch of CME Group’s Ether futures on February 8.

For Ether HODLers, popular New Zealand-based crypto analyst Lark Davis (@TheCryptoLark on Twitter), offered this short-term price prediction:

Macroeconomist and trader Alex Kruger offered this analysis of Ether’s latest price action:

He also explained why he does not expect an ETH price crash following the launch of CME Group’s Ether futures:

“I don’t expect a crash after the launch, as it happened in 2017. For two reasons. First, the market is now more mature, the macro is different, and there are different players involved. Second, $ETH remains a high beta asset. $BTC determines the market direction, $ETH follows.“

He then added:

“If $ETH gets there in a week, should expect funding to be up in the clouds by then. Price action would then get extremely volatile. Could see a replay of what happened the first time $BTC traded 40K. That sort of price action becomes likely when the market gets out of whack.“

The views and opinions expressed by the author are for informational purposes only and do not constitute financial, investment, or other advice.

Featured Image by “AgelessFinance” via Pixabay.com

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