- Ethereum price turned down from the yearly high above $1,900 ahead of the ‘Shapella’ hard fork.
- The Shanghai and Capella upgrade could be a “sell-the-news” event resulting in ETH price increase before April 12.
- Ether’s price could retrace to support at $1,800 level, or plummet lower to $1,150 after the hard fork.
Ethereum’s price hit a new high in 10 months when it climbed above the $1,900 market for the first time since August 2022. ETH has since turned down from the $1,942 price reached on Wednesday, sliding back toward the $1,800 demand zone.
However, Ether remains bullish as the crypto community eagerly awaits the Shanghai and Capella upgrade, christened Shapella, scheduled for April 12. As such, Ethereum is expected to lead a rally in related altcoins in the days leading up to the “sell-the-news” event.
Ethereum Price Coull Rally Above $2,000 Ahead Of TheUpgrade
Ethereum, the most popular blockchain for smart contracts, witnessed a spike in the price of its native token, Ether, this week. The daily chart below shows that ETH has been climbing consistently since mid-November, pushing the token to a new yearly high of $1,942, according to data from TradingView and CoinMarketCap.
This price action led to the appearance of an ascending parallel channel on the daily timeframe. This is a highly bullish chart pattern that points to a continued increase in price as long as ETH remains trading within the confines of the channel.
As such, a daily candlestick close above the middle boundary of the prevailing chart pattern at $1,979 would see ETH climb higher to confront resistance from the $2,000 psychological level. Traders could expect Ethereum’s upside to be capped here, given that the price was rejected from this level in August last year and went on to drop 43%.
In highly ambitious cases, however, Ethereum bulls may be bolstered to push the price above the $2,000 mark to confront resistance from the channel’s upper boundary at $2,153. Such a move would represent a 15% uptick from the current price.
ETH/USD Daily Chart
Apart from the technical formation, the moving averages were facing upward. This indicated that the market still favored the upside, supporting Ethereum’s bullish narrative. In addition, the Relative Strength Index (RSI) was moving in the positive region. The price strength at 58 suggested that there were still more ETH buyers than sellers in the market.
Moreover, the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator was positioned deep in the positive region above the zero line. The green bars and the call to buy ETH (still in play) indicated that the market sentiment favored the upside.
Also supporting Ether’s positive outlook was the strong support that the largest altcoin by market capitalization enjoyed on the downside. These were areas defined by the channel’s lower boundary, the $1,450 to $1,700 demand zone – where all the SMAs sat, and the $1,400 psychological level. These areas would offer possible breathing zones, allowing buyers to regroup and buy more at discounted rates.
On the downside, a daily candlestick below the immediate support level at $1,800, embraced by the lower boundary of the governing chart pattern, would confirm a bearish breakout for ETH. If this happens, ETH may drop to revisit the 50-day SMA at $1,694, the 100-day SMA at $1,594, and the 200-day SMA at $1,449.
Lower than that, ETH may drop to revisit the $1,400 psychological level or the $1,150 significant support level. Market participants could expect the Ethereum price to take a breather here before initiating another recovery.
