Ethereum rises 45% in one week

Ethereum rises 45% in a week and approaches $1,500, what’s driving this?

The cryptocurrency market is in the process of recovering, with bitcoin (BTC) returning to $22,000. But in this scenario there are other currencies that stand out, such as Ethereum: the price of ether (ETH) rose as much as 45% between last week and the beginning of this one.

At its lowest point last week, ETH came close to breaking below the $1,000 mark. Since then it has risen significantly to now approach $1,500. Its price is $1,481, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

The cryptocurrency has been rising since July 13, but after Thursday, July 14, the rise intensified. This coincides with the release of an estimated date for the Ethereum merger and the approval of a new consensus system that will eliminate mining on that network.

ETH has risen in recent days and is approaching $1,500 per unit. Source: CoinMarketCap.

Last Thursday, during a call among developers, it was announced that this transition event should take place on September 19. And even though this and other stages of the upgrade to Ethereum 2.0 have hit several hurdles, the market seems to be receiving the news with optimism.

With the recent price movement, ETH is managing to erase more than a month’s decline, returning to levels from last June 12. However, it is still 60% below its price earlier this year, where the entire market went into a sustained downtrend.

MORE THAN 200 MILLION IN LOSSES FOR TRADERS

ETH’s rapid rise has caused millions of dollars in losses for traders holding leveraged positions. In the last 24 hours, the number exceeds $200 million, although the worst part has been with bears, whose liquidated positions in the derivatives markets account for about $127 million.

This loss for bearish traders (who were betting on a fall in price) is the second largest in a 24-hour interval in a period of more than a month. The worst was precisely on July 15, when the bears lost nearly $180 million.