Bitcoin & Ether Hits New All-Time Highs, Other Altcoins Follow Suit

Ether (ETH) and Bitcoin (BTC) hit a new record high earlier today. Specifically, the price movement of Ether (ETH) coincides with its “Berlin” technical upgrade scheduled for April 14.

Specifically, Ether hit an all-time high of $2,228, reflecting the highest valuation in terms of dollars achieved since its launch. The cryptocurrency’s market cap surpassed $250 billion for the foremost time. Comparatively, six months back i.e. in late October 2020, the market cap of Bitcoin (BTC) was at that level.

The 1,328% appreciation of Ether in the last year has happened in spite of crucial worries regarding Ethereum blockchain network’s transaction processing (gas) fees. Back in February, the average Ethereum transaction fee recorded an all-time high of $38.21, as per data provided by Bitinfocharts, making the numero uno altcoin unfit as a transactional currency.

However, investors are eagerly looking for some respite with the Berlin protocol upgrade planned tomorrow. The “London” upgrade, planned to be completed by this summer, did not receive support from miners as it suggests clipping a portion of the fees paid to them.

Berlin upgrade is not expected to be have a big impact in the near-term but will facilitate the advancement to London upgrade. Notably, Ether was not the only crypto to record a new all-time high. Even the numero uno crypto in terms of market cap, Bitcoin (BTC), hit a new high of $63,478 on Binance platform. Notably, altcoins such as Binance Coin (BNB) and XRP also recorded a fresh all-time high in the last 24 hours.

Overall, the market sentiment surrounding Ether and Bitcoin is extremely bullish, but the near-term sentiment stays mixed.

Along with Ether (ETH), Bitcoin (BTC) also charted new territory today, eclipsing its earlier high of about $62,000. Analysts point to two scenarios when an asset enters uncharted zone: either the asset could rally further or reaches overbought level sparking a huge sell-off.

Even though the underlying momentum of Bitcoin is robust, traders have a mixed view of the short-term trend of Bitcoin. Scott Melker, a crypto derivatives trader, stated that the four-hour time frame of Bitcoin hints the likelihood of overbought situation in the short-term.

Furthermore, technical indicators signal that Bitcoin could enter into overbought zone in the days ahead as open positions in the futures market is also rising. Bendik Norheim Schei, the chief of research at Arcane Research, stated that the three-month premium for Bitcoin futures contracts has reached 50%.

The futures market premiums indicate how far the market is overheated. In case the premium is high, the threat of a sharp sell-off as an outcome of profit-booking by investors increases.
“This is insane. Annualized 3-month basis (premium on BTC futures contracts) approaching 50%. 50%.”

As per Mohit Sorout, the founding associate of Bitazu Capital, there is a possibility that Bitcoin is in the final phase of its uptrend. He stated:

“Truth be told I seriously think we’ve entered the final leg of this $btc bull market. To be clear, final leg could be 2-3 weeks or even more. Price could reach 200k or even more who knows. Just don’t make irrational life decisions based on unrealized PnL.”

Nevertheless, there is a big chance that Bitcoin does not peak as it happened four years back. Instead, many traders anticipate the cryptocurrency to consolidate for a long span of time, almost like gold in its initial days.