The cryptocurrency market is off to a very buoyant start to the new trading week. The major coins are approaching historic records, with market capitalization crossing the $3 trillion level for the first time ever. Ethereum managed to set a new ATH on the night of November 8, hitting $4750. The fundamental reason for such a rapid growth of the altcoin is the full functioning of the main London update protocols, which formed the basis for the asset's current price rally. And there appear to be no obstacles for the altcoin to continue its upward movement and it is likely to reach the $5k level in November.
ETH/USD gained 9% in the past 24 hours and set a new record. At the same time, as of 12:00 p.m., the daily trading volume of the asset had slipped to $17 billion, indicating a certain decline in the bullish rally caused by higher commissions in the coin's network. Despite the local pause, the cryptocurrency will definitely continue to rise. The main reason for the current price increase is the low level of supply of ETH on exchanges. This is due to the impact of the London update, in which the number of transactions in the network entails the burning of some coins, thus controlling the emission. Last week, Ethereum had its first deflationary week (the number of coins issued was less than the number burned). This generated strong demand for the small amounts of cryptocurrency that remained in free float and contributed to the rise in price.
In addition, the altcoin futures market has also started to recover and show significant gains. This is primarily due to rumours that the SEC will soon approve the first ether-based futures ETF in the US. This is expected to occur in November-December 2021. Deflation and interest from large companies are also important components of the increased demand for ETH on the futures market, as the coin has shown itself to be competitive against inflationary losses on a par with BTC. Another major piece of news that has allowed Ethereum to set a new record is the growth of the network's hash rate, which has continued to gain momentum since the period of repression by the Chinese authorities. Thanks to the increasing difficulty of mining the asset, the average cost of commissions on the ETH network has dropped from $50 to $35 over the past week.
Due to these key factors, Ethereum held steady near the all-time high and managed to make a strong upward surge to a new record. However, there is no doubt that the altcoin will continue its upward movement and reach the $5k mark by the end of November. When predicting the mid- and long-term growth of the altcoin, all fundamental factors contributing to the crypto's growth must be taken into account, and the main catalyst for ETH's growth is the project's booming ecosystem. The main provider of audience and transactions for the cryptocurrency is the DeFi marketplace, where a new ATH of $250 billion in blockchain funds was recently set. Much of the decentralized finance sector operates on ETH, which gives the core altcoin network many advantages over its competitors. With the DeFi market only in its formative stage, there is no doubt that the main altcoin will drive growth in the sector, which provides the coin with fundamental reasons to upgrade ATH.
An important feature of Ethereum's growth is consistency. The four-hour chart shows a strong consolidation with a gravitational pull towards the lower end of the range, followed by a succession of green candles. This means that the asset has risen due to audience confidence rather than sharp momentum supported by other players. Judging by the last weak candle, the short-term upward momentum has lost its strength and the coin may start to consolidate or decline as part of a local correction. Technical indicators for the crypto show that the upward momentum is complete but there are no prerequisites for a further decline. MACD continues to rise and stochastic is completing a bullish crossover in an overbought zone. At the same time, the relative strength index is within the sideways movement in an overbought zone. Taking this into account, it can be concluded that the buyers are starting to put pressure on the price and want to continue the bullish run. However, the possibility of realizing the strength of the upward momentum can be assessed after the formation of a candle on the four-hour chart.
On the daily chart, the situation remains bullish and the altcoin is firmly following the uptrend from September 30. It is worth noting that despite establishing a new ATH, the daily bullish candlestick does not look very confident and has a medium body, indicating increased resistance. It could also mean the start of a profit taking campaign, as usually happens when a new record is hit. With the relative strength index and stochastic being in an overbought zone even on the daily chart, the possibility of a local correction increases. The nearest support level would then be the $4.2k line. However, from a broader perspective, Ethereum stands a good chance of reaching $7k at the end of November and ending the trading year above $10k.
