Ethereum Reaches ATH After Altair Upgrade Gives Clear Path To The Merge

The price of Ethereum (ETH) has exploded to reach a new all-time high (ATH) today as it reached $4,400.97 at around 1:02 am UTC, based on the ETH/USD price indexes on Coinmarketcap and Coinbase.

Ethereum’s price has been on a bullish tear recently. After plunging to nearly $1,780 on July 21, it has since gained 147% to sit at nearly $4,400.

At the time of publication, ETH is now trading at $4,360, with the asset gaining 45% since the beginning of October. Coinmarketcap’s price index shows that the previous all-time high was just 8 days ago, with the asset reaching a price of $4,308.48 on October 21.

But since July 21, the second biggest crypto has gained 147% to reach the new point of price discovery.

On October 28, reports emerged that the Ethereum 2.0 Altair Beacon Chain update launched successfully, with 98.7% of nodes upgraded at the time. An Altair upgrade to the Beacon Chain is believed to be a critical factor that clears the way to the merge with the Ethereum mainnet. This will also boost a smooth transition to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism in Ethereum 2.0.

Ethereum’s success is also getting driven by the platform’s use in the thriving nonfungible token (NFT) and decentralized finance (DeFi) sectors. They highlight continuously rising demand for Ether in the future, hence guaranteeing extra tailwinds to its bullish outlook in Q4 2021 and maybe into next year.

Just so we are clear – I am more than irresponsibly long ETH right now. I now have leverage but via calls. This is by far and away the biggest personal position of my entire life by a factor of 10 (or more).

My view horizon for this part of the trade is 6 to 9 months.

— Raoul Pal (@RaoulGMI) October 29, 2021

Since July 2021, Ethereum has also undergone critical upgrades like the London Hard Fork that brought in a deflationary burning mechanism to the crypto asset as part of the network’s fee structure.

The general market sentiment in cryptocurrency has become quite positive lately. The SEC has approved several Bitcoin futures-based ETFs to go live on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Bitcoin exploded to reach a new all-time high near $67,000 in the wake of that news. What next?