In a bullish move, Ethereum has outperformed Bitcoin since the activation of the Shanghai Upgrade on April 14. Ethereum has surged by roughly 15% in the past week of trading against Bitcoin, trading at a new April high of 0.0708BTC. Ethereum has broken above recent resistance levels and is currently within a bullish breakout formation against Bitcoin.
ETH Bulls Pushing for Higher Highs
Although Ethereum’s price has been recovering since early April, the shift in momentum against Bitcoin began on April 14 when the Shanghai Upgrade went live. The upgrade enabled validators and stakers to withdraw their coins from the Beacon Chain, boosting ETH liquidity. The move was successful as the dollar value of assets tied to the Beacon Chain has now exceeded $39 billion.
Updated #Ethereum weekly chart remains bullish & price continues to head towards the 2nd target box.
• 2-week chart is bullish
• 3-week chart is bullish
• Monthly chart is bullish$ETH pic.twitter.com/Q0wNkCsMMQ— Jesse Olson (@JesseOlson) April 18, 2023
Shanghai Upgrade Marks Turning Point
The Shanghai Upgrade has turned Ethereum into a proof-of-stake platform, enabling coin holders to withdraw their assets. The simultaneous update through Capella introduced consensus changes that made the mainnet more secure, efficient, and performant. Before the upgrade, over $32 billion worth of ETH was locked up in the official deposit address. Although some validators and stakers have since withdrawn their coins, the dollar value of assets tied to the Beacon Chain has continued to increase.
Previous Bitcoin Bull Run and Current Market Conditions
Earlier in Q1 2023, Bitcoin had the upper hand against Ethereum, with Bitcoin adding approximately 20% against Ethereum. However, the market conditions began to shift in favor of Ethereum after fears of a banking crisis in the United States surfaced, and three banks collapsed in quick succession. The de-pegging of USDC also saw users move their assets to Bitcoin and other coins. Further, the news that Binance would purchase BNB, Ethereum, and Bitcoin provided much-needed momentum.
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