Buy orders have continually piled up behind Ethereum over the past few days, suggesting a possible price surge.
Ethereum Ready for New All-Time Highs
While Bitcoin prices are up more than 160% from their 2017 peak of nearly $20,000, Ethereum prices have underperformed. Ethereum has been locked in a slow but steady uptrend since mid-January that recently saw it reach a new record high of $1,940.
Despite ETH’s lackluster price action compared to other cryptocurrencies, it seems that momentum is building. ETH prices are roughly 37% higher than they were during their 2018 all-time high.
Charts Suggest Further Gains
Ethereum seems to have created a rising wedge within the 4-hour chart. One trendline can be drawn around the swing highs while another appears to join the swing lows.
This type of technical formation is often considered a reversal pattern, but it might lead to further gains given the market’s momentum. An increase in upward pressure that pushes ETH above the psychological resistance at $2,000 may be significant enough to result in a 33% breakout to $2,700.
Address Distribution Suggest Purchases
When looking at ETH address distribution data, the bullish thesis holds. The number of addresses with 10,000 ETH to 100,000 ETH has risen by more than 9% since the beginning of the year. More than 92 whales with $19.40 million to $194 million worth of Ether in their portfolios have entered the network in this period.
Digital assets management firm Grayscale has also gone into a buying spree, adding more upward pressure to Ethereum. Since early February, the company has substantially increased its holdings and added another 20,095 ETH ($38 million) in the past 24 hours.
As long as the $1,740 support level continues to hold, the buying pressure behind Ether may be significant enough to allow it break out of the rising wedge in an upward direction. Failing to hold above this critical barrier could trigger a steep correction towards $1,250.
Disclosure: At the time of writing, this author owned Bitcoin and Ethereum.