During the early trading hours, Ethereum briefly dipped below a crucial support level, extending ongoing falls that have been underway over the past few days. Most of the top 100 cryptocurrencies fell during Monday’s sell-off, and as of this writing, the market cap of all assets was down by 1.61%. Bitcoin, too, has dipped and is now trading just under $21,000.
Investors in the crypto bear market are now looking to price charts to find comfort in patterns after a long and cold winter. The two most valuable cryptocurrencies, Ether (ETH) and Bitcoin (BTC) have been range bound for more than a month around their lower support levels.
Will The ETH Merge Improve Crypto Conditions?
In a recent interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box, Meltem Demirors, the CSO of CoinShares, explains that there is a general summertime slump in the cryptocurrency space since many people aren’t actively trading while on vacation.
In her analysis of Bitcoin, Demirors states that she does not anticipate much growth between now and the end of September.
She warns that enthusiastic investors may be seeing the upgrade in a vacuum that ignores the broader market dynamics, as people are increasingly turning their attention to Ethereum and the hoopla surrounding its expected mid-September shift from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake.
She also mentions that while the Merge will unquestionably make Ethereum a better operational project, she doesn’t necessarily anticipate huge inflows of investment capital to drive ETH’s price stratospheric.
What’s Next For Bitcoin and Ethereum
After a recent 17% drop to $21,283, Bitcoin is currently consolidating closely. If the $20,750 support level is broken, there may be a 15% sell-off to the range bottom of $17,578. A sweep of $20,750 and a swift recovery, though, might result in a 12% uptick to $23,175.
Following Bitcoin’s lead, Ethereum fell by about 19% between August 18 and August 20. The recovery appears to be briefer, though, since ETH is already retreating. Investors should anticipate a slight increase to $1,675 to fill the inefficiency and cause its reversal at this point.
This move might, however, go all the way up to $1,730 and build a local top there before turning around and continuing its downward trend. Whatever the location of the local top, the price of Ethereum is set to retest the imbalance to the downside at $1,474.
According to the aforementioned scenario, the major altcoins could experience a bull run in Q3. A rapid sweep followed by a recovery, however, seems a likely result if the capital is split between BTC and ETH.