Ether, the native currency of the Ethereum blockchain, is the most popular altcoin in the world. Launched back in 2015, it has climbed through the ranks of the crypto market to become second only to Bitcoin in terms of market capitalization. Over the years, the coin has registered, in turn, periods of heightened and plummeting values. This has created a reputation for Ethereum as a relatively volatile asset. Nevertheless, this hasn’t stopped investors from delving into the world of the blockchain and putting in capital towards amassing Ethereum.
There are many ways to purchase it, and you can even buy Ethereum with debit card. The ease and accessibility of trading Ethereum are one of the reasons traders have remained firmly devoted to crypto, even after its rough year in 2022. The year that has just passed hasn’t been the best for the digital asset market. Instead of climbing higher, cryptocurrencies have seen a marked decrease this year.
But now that 2023 has arrived, investors hold on to the hope that things will change and ETH will revert to values closer to the ones one or two years ago. Let’s look at some predictions to know what you can expect from the new year regarding cyber coins.
What’s next?
It is still difficult to accurately estimate where Ethereum will go in 2023. The events of last year’s events have acted as a deterrent for researchers, causing many of them to be wary of claiming any price variation too strongly. Volatility is still high on the Ethereum blockchain, and the trend will likely continue in 2023. This isn’t necessarily bad, as a sudden price spike would cause chaos among investors.
However, most investors are optimistic and are confident that Ethereum’s tendency will become more bullish over the following months. Their belief is based on the fact that the price of ETH has dropped in the past only to reach its previous levels and climb even higher afterwards. For this reason, many are convinced that the market will come in strong in 2023 and compensate for the slump of 2022.
Price range
It’s difficult to estimate precisely how far the price of Ethereum is likely to climb. ETH started the year in the $1,200 area and has continued to register minor variations over the next few months. The values have been oscillating between slight increases and decreases. This could mean that the price will likely become more stable in 2023 and even record substantial price rises. Some investors expect that the price will reach $1,350 by December and that the potential results of the 200 DMA to achieve nearly $1,400.
However, whether or not Ethereum will indeed raise to meet these expectations remains to be seen. The currency has remained locked on a downward path since July 2022. The current global environment is not favorable either, as world economies are reeling from the effects of the pandemic, as well as heightened geopolitical and military turmoil. The ongoing situation has led many to believe that a significant change in the case of Ethereum isn’t probably in the coming weeks or even months. The most important thing is to stay vigilant and keep a watchful eye on the prices and take note of possible trading opportunities.
During the last year, many investors decided to sell their Ethereum when it became clear that the price won’t jump back miraculously. Instead of seeing their wallet lose capital continuously, many have decided to withdraw from the world of investment before losing their funds became too painful to watch. It remains to be seen if 2023 will come with a shift in this trend and see prices climb rather than drop. After this is achieved, many investors will likely return and continue their activity.
The upgrades
One of the reasons investors are convinced change is on the way is the fact that Ethereum is planning several upgrades over the course of 2023. In September 2022, the blockchain transitioned from a proof-of-work consensus mechanism to proof-of-stake, a process that has cut down Ethereum’s power usage by a whopping 99%. This is excellent news for eco-conscious investors concerned about the long-term sustainability of mining cryptocurrencies in the context of the worsening climate crisis.
The first significant upgrade traders can expect is the Shanghai hard fork, scheduled for sometime around March, with the exact date yet to be announced. 2022 saw three updates like this, Gray Glacier in June, then Bellatrix and Paris on the 6th and 15th of September, respectively. The main benefit of this protocol shift is that network validators will be able to withdraw the ETH they have staked to secure the network. Researchers estimate that the move of enabling crypto withdrawals will get investors to give staking a try. This action could potentially yield somewhere between 4 and 5%, figures that hold the potential to boost crypto demands considerably.
Another update is the use of sharding and even proto-danksharding. These changes follow the same basic model, with their aim being to make processes more scalable and efficient. While the first refers to improving the speed of transactions, the latter is to make data blobs easier to manage.
An overview
It isn’t easy to estimate how high ETH could go in 2023. The global financial situation is still uncertain, and economists estimate that inflation will likely be unstable for at least a few months into the new year. However, once the price raises drop towards their pre-2022 levels, central banks should begin cutting back on interest rates in order to support growth. This could result in the emergence of risk assets as legitimate investment forms. Traders are likely to hold on to the hope that ETH, one of the most well-known cryptos out there, has the potential to return to its previous values and go back to values up to $2,000 or higher.
2023 holds a lot of promise for investors, but it remains to be seen whether or not traders will be met with resounding success or with continuous volatility.
0 Comments