The Ethereum price is on the verge of a strong rally following growing adoption and solid network growth that paves the way for its breakout. The second most valuable cryptocurrency has shown resilience by surging 71.5% in 2024 alone.
Interest from institutions in Ethereum is snowballing. French banking behemoth Societe Generale recently traded a tokenized bond on the Ethereum blockchain.
This transaction was the first repurchase agreement with a Eurosystem central bank using the Ethereum blockchain and was finalized by the bank through its subsidiary, FORGE. This act further validates Ethereum’s ever-increasing usefulness within conventional financial infrastructure.
More importantly, Ethereum’s popularity among institutional investors is reflected in the growth of spot Ethereum ETFs. BlackRock’s ETHA and other such ETFs have collectively had over $2.1 billion inflow in the past three weeks and almost $845 million this past week alone.
Rapid Network Expansion
Ethereum’s network metrics indicate its growing user base and utility. On-chain data shows that 130,200 new wallets were created daily in December. This figure represents a 2.65% rise in new address creation and a 4.24 increase in active addresses.
Notably, there was a 4.06% reduction in zero-balance addresses. These figures prove Ethereum’s ability to attract and retain users despite a highly competitive blockchain environment.
This makes Ethereum the cornerstone of Web3 adoption, considering the network can handle increased transactions and smart contract deployments. Moreover, Ethereum’s staking ecosystem keeps growing, with over 34 million ETH staked by over 100,000 active validators.
This adds greater security and decentralization to the network. This also opens up passive income avenues for investors, which creates further incentives for long-term holding.
The Ethereum Price Dynamics and Investor Behavior
The movement of ETH out of exchanges has marked a significant shift in its market dynamics. On December 14, for instance, 108,521 ETH (or $418 million) left centralized exchanges, the largest withdrawal in a single day since March 13.
This implies less liquid supply on the market, which often leads to stability in price and upward movements. According to the popular on-chain analytics platform Glassnode, Ethereum addresses holding more than 10,000 ETH have surged in the last few months.
This accumulation reflects strong confidence in Ethereum’s prospects, driven by its dominance in DeFi and NFT markets. The acquisition of 52,905 ETH by Justin Sun, founder of TRON, was enough to influence Ethereum’s price.
Technical Indicators and Ethereum Price
The technical outlook suggests a further uptrend—ethereum price trades at approximately $3,900, with its immediate resistance at $4,069. The RSI is at 60.22, indicating consistent demand.
The appearance of a “Golden Cross” on the 7-day Ethereum price chart only adds to the optimism surrounding its price. This indicator was witnessed in early 2021, just before the price spiked 200% within ten weeks.
Bybit and Block Scholes analysts set a target of $8,800 by Q1 2025, while some predictions go as high as $11,000 around the same period.
Moreover, Ethereum often moves in the same direction as Bitcoin after the BTC’s halving cycles. Ethereum typically lags behind other altcoins at the start of rallies but then follows through with substantial increases.
Thus, its current price action indicates stronger growth beyond its 2024 gains of 76.7%.
Ethereum and the Web3 Ecosystem
Ethereum remains an undisputed leader within the Web3 ecosystem, with more than $78 billion in total value locked and more than 428,000 active addresses within the last 24 hours. Hence, Ether (the blockchain’s native token) is firmly positioned for mainstream adoption across decentralized applications.
Other projects, such as Ethena’s synthetic dollar, further demonstrate Ethereum’s versatility. Built on the Ethereum network, USDe has quickly picked up steam, doubling its market capitalization to $6 billion in one month.
This growth showcases Ethereum’s potential to be the backbone for scalable, censorship-resistant financial solutions.
