Summary
- Institutional purchases have slowed down this week, but NFT is emerging as a strong growth segment.
- Ethereum blockchain is set to be upgraded to curb gas fees and enable privacy in transactions.
- Hacking remains a great threat to digital assets.
ETH’s price was headed for $1,900 today but then dropped to $1,700 territory at the time of writing. ETH had a good run over the weekend but is now down 1.5% relative to the price recorded 7 days ago. Developments in the Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT) segment are likely to shape the price trajectory in the coming days.
The promising growth prospects by NFT
NFT continues to show promising prospects for the future growth of Ethereum. The arts and sports have shown the greatest demand in this segment. In the latest development, a popular electronic music trendsetter, Aphex Twin, sold some of his music as an NFT token for nearly $130,000. The sale of the Ethereum token was made through an auction set up on the NFT foundation app.
Elsewhere, five NFT cards that were minted by Rob Gronkowski, a Super Bowl champion, were recently sold for over 800 Ether tokens worth more than $1.5 million. The NFT cards were auctioned on OpenSea Drops.
Similarly, an exclusive NFT featuring Christiano Ronaldo has recently been sold for nearly $300,000. The digital cards can be for competing in tournaments, and players can also trade them on trading platforms. Furthermore, the cards take the NFT form on ETH, offering scarcity and possession that can be proved.
A popular actor and a former National Football League (NFL) player, Terry Crews, has joined the list of celebrities interested in digital assets. Terry Crews has launched his social currency ($POWER) on the ETH blockchain with a focus on uplifting artists. This was yet another case of the Ethereum platform being embraced by the art world.
Enhanced Security
The past two months have seen Ethereum’s DeFi domain come under attacks from hackers, leading to the loss of millions of dollars. To tackle this threat, the Aztec Network has recently launched Layer 2 Privacy on ETH. This is to scale and shield transactions. Aside from reducing gas fees, the L-2 technology will also enhance privacy during transactions.
However, hacking still remains an existential impediment to the operations of the Ethereum network. In a recent occurrence, hackers stole nearly 3,000 Ether tokens from Roll, a blockchain platform for issuing NFTs and social tokens. The stolen tokens were later sold on Uniswaps in exchange for ETH.
Cardano (ADA) vs. ETH
The Ethereum blockchain is also staring at the prospect of its market share being eaten up by Cardano. The altcoin has undergone improvements that have endeared it to investors. Charles Hoskinson, the founder of the Cardano blockchain, has claimed that about 100 institutions currently hosted on the Ethereum network are on their way out. Their destination? Cardano.
Hopkinson has attributed the impending migration to Cardano’s Mary hard fork upgrade and the delayed rollout of Ethereum’s Later 2 upgrade. The Mary hard fork upgrade, in particular, will see Cardano achieve full decentralization by the end of March. If Hoskinson’s claims prove to be true, that could signal a change of fortune for Ethereum and could trigger many such migrations.
ETH/USD technical outlook
Today, ETH’s price corrected downwards a few hours after trading at a high of about $1,803. The price is now around $17,800. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) of the ETH/USD pair is below the midpoint. This depicts a mostly bearish trend, increasing the chances of a further slip.
If ETH/USD pair breaks below this support level, the price could record a significant decrease.
The first resistance level will be established at the $1,812 mark, while the second one will be at $1,829. A break above this resistance level would trigger a price surge back to the $1,900 mark and above.
