Despite being the most traded altcoin in the crypto market, Ethereum (ETH) has not performed to the expectations of many investors. While Bitcoin’s (BTC) price has pumped over 8 percent in the past few days to retest its all-time high (ATh) above $73k, Ethereum price has continued to consolidate in the same symmetrical triangular pattern that began after the August 5 crypto crash.
The large-cap altcoin, with a fully diluted valuation of about $321 billion and a daily average traded volume of about $21 billion, has been signaling potential bullish continuation in the near term. Moreover, Ether’s price against Bitcoin has been retesting a crucial support macro trend line, as BTC dominance reached a major resistance level of about 60 percent.
Ether Faces Adoption Headwinds
The mainstream adoption of the Ethereum network has faced significant challenges due to the notable emergence of highly competitive similar chains led by Solana (SOL), Toncoin (TON), and BSC network, among others.
As Coinpedia recently reported, Solana’s on-chain activity has significantly outpaced Ethereum’s by a huge margin. The thriving Solana’s meme coin space has helped increase its on-chain activity compared to Ethereum’s.
Meanwhile, on-chain data analysis shows that Ethereum has faced low demand from whale investors compared to its peers and Bitcoin.
On Tuesday, the US spot Ether ETF registered around $7.6 million in cash inflows compared to Bitcoin’s $870 million.
What Next for Ethereum Price?
According to crypto analyst Alan Santana, Ethereum price is a better investment than Bitcoin at the moment based on previous crypto cycles. The crypto analyst argued that Bitcoin price is more overbought than Ethereum, thus presenting an opportunity for a higher risk-to-profit ratio.
However, the crypto analyst pointed out that Ether’s price must consistently close above the resistance range between $2,800 and $2,900 in the near term to invalidate a potential downside. In case Ether’s price rallies above $2,800 in the coming weeks, the next major target is the all-time high near $5k.