OP 06 January, 2023 - 05:25 PM
ETH, the native cryptocurrency that powers the smart contract-enabled decentralized Ethereum blockchain, is consolidating on Thursday near the $1,250 mark after posting decent gains in the first few days of this week. Indeed, despite now having pulled close to 2% lower versus Wednesday’s highs in the $1,270 area, ETH is still up about 4.0% this week, after mustering a clean upside break of both of its 21 and 50-Day Moving Averages on Wednesday.
In wake of the recent push higher, which seems to have been more technically driven amid a lack of any notable Ethereum-specific catalysts, short-term price predictions have become more bullish. However, macro headwinds could be a problem for the bulls, with Fed officials (in speeches and via Wednesday meeting minutes release) sounding hawkish and US labor market data (so far) coming in strong.
![[Image: eth-this-week.jpg]](https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fv2.cimg.co%2Fnews%2F100244%2F248031%2Feth-this-week.jpg)
Price Prediction – Where Next For ETH?So maybe Fed tightening bets could push ETH back towards where it started the week in the $1,200 area. But amid a positive technical picture, a retest of these levels could attract substantial buying interest. After breaking out of a medium-term downtrend earlier this week, ETH bulls are targeting an eventual test of the December highs in the $1,340 area, as well as a potential test of the 200DMA at $1,390.
![[Image: eth-to-dec-high.jpg]](https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fv2.cimg.co%2Fnews%2F100244%2F248032%2Feth-to-dec-high.jpg)
However, whether ETH could press on beyond these levels is another thing. The cryptocurrency remains locked within a downward trend channel that has been in play since July 2022. And ongoing headwinds to the broader crypto sector thanks to a still very hawkish Fed and weakening US economy suggest a big break higher might not be imminent in the coming weeks of months.
![[Image: eth-longer-term.jpg]](https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fv2.cimg.co%2Fnews%2F100244%2F248034%2Feth-longer-term.jpg)
How High Can ETH Go in 2023?That being said, many do expect macro headwinds to ease later this year. Many economists expect US inflation to continue its rapid drop back towards the Fed’s 2.0% target and this should eventually give the US central bank room to begin cutting interest rates to support growth, which is also expected to weaken substantially. This could result in a broad pumping of risk assets. ETH bulls will cling on to the hope that the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization can get back to its pre-“merge” highs in the $2000 area from last August.
![[Image: eth-to-aug-high.jpg]](https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fv2.cimg.co%2Fnews%2F100244%2F248035%2Feth-to-aug-high.jpg)
Ethereum Upgrades to Also Boost ETH?Aside from potential macro tailwinds that could lift Ethereum this year, the Ethereum blockchain protocol will also be undergoing a number of key changes/upgrades that could also bolster investor appetite. The first major upgrade will be the so-called “Shanghai” hard fork, which is scheduled for March.
The main benefit of this hard fork will be that ETH network validators will finally be able to withdraw the ETH that they have staked in order to secure the network. Analysts think that by enabling staked ETH withdrawals, more investors will be attracted towards ETH staking, which normally yields somewhere in the region of 4-5%. This could substantially boost demand for the cryptocurrency, some predict.
Ethereum developers also hope to make progress on making the Ethereum blockchain more scalable via “sharding” – this is essentially where the Ethereum network is split into multiple parallel blockchains (shards), allowing it to process more data and transactions. Developers have tentatively scheduled a sharding upgrade for the fall.
In wake of the recent push higher, which seems to have been more technically driven amid a lack of any notable Ethereum-specific catalysts, short-term price predictions have become more bullish. However, macro headwinds could be a problem for the bulls, with Fed officials (in speeches and via Wednesday meeting minutes release) sounding hawkish and US labor market data (so far) coming in strong.
Price Prediction – Where Next For ETH?So maybe Fed tightening bets could push ETH back towards where it started the week in the $1,200 area. But amid a positive technical picture, a retest of these levels could attract substantial buying interest. After breaking out of a medium-term downtrend earlier this week, ETH bulls are targeting an eventual test of the December highs in the $1,340 area, as well as a potential test of the 200DMA at $1,390.
However, whether ETH could press on beyond these levels is another thing. The cryptocurrency remains locked within a downward trend channel that has been in play since July 2022. And ongoing headwinds to the broader crypto sector thanks to a still very hawkish Fed and weakening US economy suggest a big break higher might not be imminent in the coming weeks of months.How High Can ETH Go in 2023?That being said, many do expect macro headwinds to ease later this year. Many economists expect US inflation to continue its rapid drop back towards the Fed’s 2.0% target and this should eventually give the US central bank room to begin cutting interest rates to support growth, which is also expected to weaken substantially. This could result in a broad pumping of risk assets. ETH bulls will cling on to the hope that the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization can get back to its pre-“merge” highs in the $2000 area from last August.Ethereum Upgrades to Also Boost ETH?Aside from potential macro tailwinds that could lift Ethereum this year, the Ethereum blockchain protocol will also be undergoing a number of key changes/upgrades that could also bolster investor appetite. The first major upgrade will be the so-called “Shanghai” hard fork, which is scheduled for March.The main benefit of this hard fork will be that ETH network validators will finally be able to withdraw the ETH that they have staked in order to secure the network. Analysts think that by enabling staked ETH withdrawals, more investors will be attracted towards ETH staking, which normally yields somewhere in the region of 4-5%. This could substantially boost demand for the cryptocurrency, some predict.
Ethereum developers also hope to make progress on making the Ethereum blockchain more scalable via “sharding” – this is essentially where the Ethereum network is split into multiple parallel blockchains (shards), allowing it to process more data and transactions. Developers have tentatively scheduled a sharding upgrade for the fall.