The price of Ether has been keeping pace with the overall rally in the cryptocurrency market this year. In January, there were significant gains during the relief rally, and then again from March until now. On March 10th, Ether was trading at a spot price of $1,429, before rising to $2,000 by April 13th when the Shanghai Upgrade took place, representing a 36% increase in a month’s time.
For the remainder of Q2, there are several factors affecting the Ethereum price. The Shanghai Upgrade has had a positive impact on the network and ecosystem, creating a lot of bullish sentiment. Meanwhile, U.S. regulatory threats have caused uncertainty, with the debate over whether crypto should be regulated as commodities or securities still ongoing.
However, the fundamentals of Ethereum are very bullish, with the network boasting 227 million cumulative unique addresses on April 11th, a 17.93% increase from the same time last year. Furthermore, ETH has become a deflationary asset following the implementation of EIP-1559, which proposed sending gas fees to the network itself as a sort of burn. Over 2 million ETH worth $6 billion have been burned since the change was implemented in July 2021.
Institutional support for Ethereum is also running strong, with Fortune Magazine recently ranking it as number one on their crypto benchmark list. Finally, macro risks like interest rate hikes and recession could create headwinds for asset prices, including Ether. Overall, despite some bearish factors, the current outlook for the Ethereum price in Q2 remains positive.
