Ethereum has lagged behind Bitcoin in recent days, despite the second-largest blockchain plans on its biggest update ever. Although the long-awaited Proof-of-Stake upgrade to Ethereum is almost here, Bitcoin continues to command attention.
On Monday, Bitcoin continued to rise and is now worth $22,229 USD. Ethereum is currently trading at $1,715 despite a 3.3% decline. The second cryptocurrency correction has occurred despite the fact that “the Merge” is getting closer and stocks are trading higher overall. To start the week (the S&P 500 is up 0.74%, the Dow Jones is up 0.54%, and the Nasdaq is up 0.55%).
Bitcoin Is Gaining Ground
Since Wednesday, when it broke through resistance at $18,600, Bitcoin has demonstrated strength; since then, the leading cryptocurrency has increased by about 20%. Additionally, the monthly RSI exhibits a positive divergence for the first time since September 2021 while the weekly RSI exhibits one for the first time since March.
Notably, the ETH: BTC ratio has trended lower since Wednesday when it reached a 2022 high of 0.085. It is currently down 9.2%, trading at 0.077. Before ETH led a market-wide comeback in June, the ratio had previously reached 0.053; for ETH: BTC to return to the low of its range, a further decrease of 33.49% would be required. The quantity of ETH required to purchase one BTC is referred to as “the ratio.” At a ratio of 0.077, 13 ETH are equal to one BTC.
TradingView reports that BTC’s overall market dominance, which is the top cryptocurrency’s percentage of the total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies, has also increased to 41.28% since bottoming out at its multi-year support level of 39.79%. Despite growing interest in its greatest ever update, Ethereum is losing ground to Bitcoin.
A 99% reduction in energy use and a 90% reduction in ETH emissions will follow from the blockchain’s “merge” from Proof-of-Work to Proof-of-Stake this week. Although the early September 15 delivery of The Merge is anticipated, ETH has yet to regain its August high of $2,015.
It’s likely that the Merge will become a “sell the news” event that triggers a selloff after the fact, even while it will result in a supply reduction that could benefit ETH’s price in the long run.
Ethereum may find itself eclipsed before its greatest update ever due to the increasing dominance of Bitcoin and the rising ratio between the top two crypto assets.