Ethereum Gaining Traction as Altcoins Start to Blast Off

All the hype of late has been centred around Bitcoin – and for good reason, with the coin up 15% on the week and the halving just around the corner. However, as BTC’s uptrend starts to slow and its dominance wanes, it might be time for investors to turn their attention to other tokens in the lead-up to the New Year. 

Ethereum rallying in ETH/BTC Charts

The sentiment around Ethereum’s 2023 hasn’t exactly been outstanding, and yet, the King of DeFi has nearly doubled in value over the past 12 months, with most of those gains coming since October. The surge has seen Ethereum start to cut into Bitcoin’s lead in the ETH/BTC charts.

And according to prominent crypto trader Michael van de Poppe, the six months leading into a Bitcoin halving isn’t actually set up for a BTC bull run – rather, he believes it’s altcoin season.

In the period prior to the Bitcoin halving, 3-8 months before, it’s the best period to allocate towards altcoins.

Michaël van de Poppe

As the leader of altcoins, this suggests that Ether is primed for a terrific run into 2024. Specifically, van de Poppe has his eyes set on an ETH price of USD $3,000 (AUD $4,500) by Q1 next year.

Ethereum Whales Starting to Lose Power

In more positive news for the Ethereum market, blockchain analysts Santiment believe that the selling power of Ether whales is starting to dwindle. As the coin bursts through its highest level since June 2022, the number of Ethereum held on the 150 biggest exchange wallets has hit a five-year low of just 9.3M ETH. 

By comparison, the number of ETH held by the top 150 non-exchange wallets is at an all-time high of 54.6M Ether. No doubt some of this trend is informed by the collapse of FTX and the industry’s newfound focus on self-custody. But in general, those who hold Ethereum on a decentralised wallet are more likely to be long-term holders, or at the very least, are engaging with the Ether ecosystem. On the flipside, ETH held in exchange wallets is more likely to be used by high-net-worth traders, making the coin susceptible to price swings due to major sell-offs.