Bitcoin

Is Ethereum an obvious buy after the Bitcoin halving?

Published

6 months ago

19 July, 2024

Is Ethereum an obvious buy after the Bitcoin halving?

The world’s second-largest cryptocurrency still has short-term catalysts.

Many cryptocurrencies have retreated from their all-time highs a few years ago as rising interest rates have pushed investors into more conservative investments. However, three tailwinds have buoyed the broader market this year: expectations of lower rates, the approvals of the first Bitcoin (BTC 3.59%) spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in January and the Bitcoin halving in April.

But now that Bitcoin has completed its long-awaited halving, which reduces the rewards for mining Bitcoin every four years, there will likely be fewer short-term catalysts for the world’s leading cryptocurrency. So it’s time to turn our attention to Ethereum (ETH 1.87%), the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, for bigger gains this year?

Image source: Getty Images.

The Differences Between Ethereum and Bitcoin

Ether is the native token of the Ethereum blockchain, which launched in 2015. Ethereum initially used the same energy-intensive proof of work (PoW) mining method like Bitcoin, but has transitioned to the more energy-efficient proof of participation (PoS) in a process called The Merge in 2022. This transition reduced Ethereum’s mining power consumption by 99.95% and made it deflationary — meaning more coins were mined being burnedor permanently removed from circulation than created. PoS blockchains also allow investors to to betor lock your tokens for fixed periods to earn interest-like rewards.

The Ethereum blockchain was also developed to support smart contractswhich can be used to create decentralized applications (Digital applications), smaller tokens, and other crypto assets. The Bitcoin blockchain can only be used to mine more coins. This is why Ethereum is often valued for its expanding developer ecosystem, while Bitcoin is often compared to gold or silver.

This fundamental difference led the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to say that Bitcoin was the only cryptocurrency that could be classified as a commodity. This classification supported its approvals of the first spot Bitcoin ETFs.

However, the SEC was reluctant to call Ethereum and other PoS coins commodities, saying that the staking process made them similar to securities. However, the SEC still paved the way for the first Ethereum spot price ETF applications earlier this year.

The Tailwinds and Headwinds for Ethereum

Ethereum’s biggest near-term catalyst will be the potential approvals of its first spot ETFs. The SEC has reportedly already granted preliminary approvals to at least three of the eight planned spot-price ETFs, according to Reuters, and the latest speculation suggests that most of these funds could begin trading as early as July 23.

Ethereum’s price has already surged by about 50% this year, but the first spot ETFs could push its price even higher. For reference, Bitcoin’s price has surged by more than 40% since the approvals of its first 11 ETFs on Jan. 10.

Another big catalyst is Ethereum’s recent Dencun upgrade, which increases its speed and reduces gas rates — essentially network user fees — for its Layer-2 blockchain. Stabilizing and falling interest rates could also drive investors back into Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies.

However, Ethereum still faces unpredictable headwinds. The Dencun upgrade has made Ethereum inflationary again, and its supply will continue to increase unless more tokens are burned. It also still processes transactions at a slower rate than newer PoS blockchains, such as Solana (SUN 8.10%) and Cardano (ADA 1.75%) — and these limitations may restrict the expansion of its ecosystem.

Ethereum’s planned spot ETFs will also not feature any staking mechanisms like their underlying tokens, so it may not be an attractive alternative to directly owning the cryptocurrency. Finally, market expectations for lower fees and ETF approvals may have already been factored into its current price.

So, is Ethereum a no-brainer buy now?

Ethereum is trading at around $3,400 at the time of writing, but some bullish investors expect it to generate big gains over the next few years. VanEck’s Matthew Sigel and Patrick Bush expect its price to more than triple to $11,800 by 2030, while Ark Invest’s Cathie Wood says it could be worth it a whopping $166,000 until 2032.

We should take these optimistic estimates with a grain of salt, but I believe that Ethereum spot price ETF approvals and lower interest rates must limit its downside potential this year. Ethereum’s next planned network upgrade, Pectra, is expected to further increase its speed and reduce its gas fees to keep up with Solana and Cardano. Therefore, I believe Ethereum is still a good cryptocurrency to accumulate right now — but investors shouldn’t necessarily expect it to take off in the coming months.

Leo Sun has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool is positioned in and recommends Bitcoin, Cardano, Ethereum, and Solana. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Bitcoin

What to watch for in the markets

Published

6 months ago

21 July, 2024

SatoshiTimes Staff

Photo: Andrew Harnik (Getty Images)

After witnessing one of the largest global IT outages on record, affecting the travel, finance and healthcare sectors worldwideThis week is set to see more political drama, events, and earnings reports from tech giants.

Donald Trump’s ‘Lovefest’ Sets Jamie Dimon Up for Consideration for Treasury Secretary Job

Let’s take a look at what awaits us:

Major companies will release their earnings reports

Major tech companies and others will release their earnings reports this week, paving the way for what the second half of 2024 will look like.

Monday

Verizon will report earnings before the start of operations.

Tuesday

Coca-Cola, Comcast and UPS are all set to report earnings before the market opens.
Tesla will report earnings in the morning, while General Motors will report earnings in the evening.
Alphabet and Visa will report results after the market closes.

Wednesday

AT&T will release its report before the market opens.
Ford and Chipotle will report earnings after the market closes.

Thursday

Earnings reports from AstraZeneca, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines will be released before the market opens.

Trump to speak at Bitcoin conference

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump will speak at the next Bitcoin Conference in Nashville, Tennesseewhich is scheduled for July 25-27. While this is the first time a presidential candidate will attend the conference, it has sparked a debate over whether the crypto-friendly Trump will receive support from the crypto community in the upcoming election.

In addition to Trump, independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will also discuss crypto during the conference. Crypto advocates such as ARK Investment’s Cathie Wood, MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor, and whistleblower Edward Snowden are among some prominent names who will be participating in the conference.

Ether ETFs are on the way

New Ether Spot ETFs are set to begin trading on Tuesday, July 23. Much like the spot Bitcoin ETFs, these ETFs will allow investors to buy the second most popular cryptocurrency like stocks. BlackRock, Ark Invest/21Shares, VanEck, Grayscale, Fidelity, Bitwise, Franklin Templeton, and Invesco/Galaxy Digital are all set to offer Ether ETFs. Crypto asset manager Bitwise predict that trading in the Ether ETF will drive the price of Ether higher, potentially surpassing $5,000.

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Bitcoin

Cryptocurrency’s Biggest Winners and Losers in a Second Trump Presidency

Published

6 months ago

21 July, 2024

SatoshiTimes Staff

Cryptocurrency’s Biggest Winners and Losers in a Second Trump Presidency

Bitcoin miners and cryptocurrency companies that have been blocked from going public in the U.S. could ultimately be the biggest winners in the digital asset world under a second Donald Trump presidency. Foreign companies at risk of losing market share could end up being the biggest losers.

That’s the view that’s taking hold among market participants and observers in the wake of the former president’s growing embrace of cryptocurrency as his chances of election grow. survey released Thursday by CBS News showed Trump with the majority — 52 percent — of likely voters in his likely November rematch with President Joe Biden.

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Bitcoin

Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana and Cryptocurrency Markets Look Ready to ‘Send’ as Stars Align, According to Investor Chris Burniske

Published

6 months ago

21 July, 2024

SatoshiTimes Staff

Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana and Cryptocurrency Markets Look Ready to ‘Send’ as Stars Align, According to Investor Chris Burniske

Cryptocurrency investor Chris Burniske says Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SUN) and the cryptocurrency market in general seem poised for a run.

Former Head of Cryptocurrency at ARK Invest account his 292,200 followers on social media platform X that several catalysts are aligning, suggesting that digital asset markets are on the verge of a bull run.

According to Burniske, a partner at venture capital firm Placeholder, the highly anticipated launch of Ethereum-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs), Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaking at an upcoming Bitcoin event, and the current state of the BTC, ETH, and SOL charts all suggest significant optimism for the cryptocurrency markets.

“With ETH ETFs set to go live, Trump speaking at The Bitcoin Conference, and BTC, ETH, and SOL charts looking [they do] (while stocks are weak), it’s hard to imagine a world where we don’t ship next week.”

Reuters recently reported that preliminary approval for ETH ETFs has been granted as the Bitcoin Conference is scheduled to take place from July 25-27.

BTC, ETH, and SOL are trading at $67,333, $3,528, and $174 at the time of writing, respectively.

The venture capitalist too provides an update on his prediction that the total crypto market cap will eventually hit $10 trillion. According to his chart, the path to $10 trillion is currently “23%” complete, as it sits around $2.2 trillion.

Source: Chris BurniskeX

Earlier this month, Burniske he said in an interview with Real Vision CEO Raoul Paul that he has his eye on the Move ecosystem, which was originally built by social media giant Meta and then used to develop layer 1 blockchains Sui (IUE) and Apts (APT).

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Bitcoin

Here’s the next target for BTC before bulls can hold out for $70K

Published

6 months ago

21 July, 2024

SatoshiTimes Staff

Here’s the next target for BTC before bulls can hold out for $70K

Bitcoin’s recovery is going well, and the market is seemingly poised to create a new all-time high in the near term.

Technical analysis

Per NegotiationRage

The daily chart

As the daily chart shows, the price of Bitcoin has been rising since it broke above the 200-day moving average.

The market has also reclaimed the $60K and $65K levels and is moving towards the $68K resistance zone, which could be the last hurdle before creating a new all-time high. With the RSI also indicating that the price has clear bullish momentum, it could be just a matter of time.

Source: TradingView

The 4-hour chart

Looking at the 4-hour chart, it is evident that the price has been rising rapidly since breaking the downtrend line to the upside. The market also broke the $65K resistance level with momentum, turning it into a support.

While almost everything points to a new record high in the coming weeks, there is one worrying sign. The RSI is showing a clear bearish divergence between recent price highs, which could indicate a correction or even a reversal in the near term.

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Cryptocurrency Charts by TradingView.

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