Ethereum has been incurring incredibly strong fundamentals in spite of the relatively lackluster market conditions as of late, and multiple indicators are supporting the notion that the Ethereum network has been incurring growing utilization despite the ongoing bull market.
This fundamental strength appears to be translating into bullish price action, as ETH has now been able to surge past $200.
Ethereum Leads Crypto Market Surge
The aggregated crypto markets have posted a decent rally this afternoon, with Ethereum surging to highs of over $200 before facing a slight rejection that has led it down to its current price of $198.
Over a one-week period, Ethereum has climbed significantly from its recent lows of below $170, and its ability to surge from these lows signals that the cryptocurrency’s bulls have incredible strength at the moment, although it does appear that $200 is a relative level of resistance for the crypto in the near-term.
As for what has been driving this upwards momentum, it is possible that its strengthening fundamentals have encouraged some investors to direct some capital towards ETH.
One of these bullish fundamental factors is ETH’s gas usage, which just hit fresh all-time-highs today. Importantly, however, most of this gas usage is not stemming from users moving ETH but is rather coming from the consummation of non-standard contracts and from USDT.
“Gas usage on #Ethereum hit ATH. How is it being used? #Tether has been on the rise, with a recent peak of 20% of all network fees used to transfer $USDT. While less gas is used to move $ETH, the bulk is consumed by non-standard contracts, that require heavier computations,” Glassnodes explained in a recent tweet.
1/ Gas usage on #Ethereum hit ATH.
How is it being used?#Tether has been on the rise, with a recent peak of 20% of all network fees used to transfer $USDT.
While less gas is used to move $ETH, the bulk is consumed by non-standard contracts, that require heavier computations. pic.twitter.com/fKcC4m8GL1
— glassnode (@glassnode) September 16, 2019
Analysts are also noting that ETH may further extend its upwards momentum if it is able to consolidate above $200, but it has so far been unable to hold above this level.
Hsaka, a popular crypto analyst on Twitter, spoke about this in a recent tweet, explaining that his next target for ETH is 0.021 BTC, which is significantly higher than its current price of 0.0191 BTC.
“UPDATE: $ETH followed suit. Range resistance target hit. A daily close above the current resistance and targeting the next level at ~0.021 (green),” he explained.
UPDATE$ETH followed suit.
Range resistance target hit. 🎯
A daily close above the current resistance, and targeting the next level at ~0.021 (green). pic.twitter.com/qftwFGUatm
— Hsaka (@HsakaTrades) September 16, 2019
The coming hours will likely prove to be quite important for setting the tone for ETH’s near-term trend, as a decisive break above $200 could lead to significantly further gains in the coming weeks and months.