Ethereum\u2019s native token, Ether (ETH<\/a>), could reach back to $3,000 in March, backed by a mix of short-term technical, fundamental and on-chain catalysts.<\/p>\n The first interim bullish outlook for Ether ironically comes from a bearish continuation pattern.<\/p>\n Notably, ETH\u2019s 50%-plus decline from its all-time high of around $4,650 on Dec. 2, 2021, followed up with forming a consolidation channel called a symmetrical triangle<\/a>. Thus, the Ethereum token has been fluctuating between a falling upper trendline and a rising lower trendline since the beginning of this year.<\/p>\n ETH\/USD last retested the triangle\u2019s lower trendline as support on March 14 near $2,500, following a sharp correction after finding sellers near the 20-day exponential moving average (20-day EMA; the green wave in the chart above).<\/p>\n Since then, ETH\u2019s price has rebounded by as much as 9.26%, closing above the 20-day EMA resistance on March 16 to reach almost $2,750.\u00a0<\/p>\n A decisive rebound move, accompanied by a rise in trading volumes, could have Ether eye the triangle\u2019s upper trendline as its next upside target near $3,000.<\/p>\n On March 15, Ethereum developer Tim Beiko announced<\/a> that they have successfully tested the \u201cMerge\u201d on the Kiln testnet, raising speculations that the protocol would completely switch from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake in Q2\/2022.\u00a0<\/p>\n And it seems to have worked Post-merge blocks are being produced by validators, and they contain transactions! https:\/\/t.co\/xearnsuZFp<\/a><\/p>\n Just waiting on finalization now https:\/\/t.co\/BEfJOI4qqj<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/c4p1UXB5vw<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Tim Beiko | timbeiko.eth (@TimBeiko) March 15, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n The euphoria around the Merge<\/a> has acted as one of the main bullish prospects behind Ethereum\u2019s growth since the introduction of its first consensus layer upgrades in December 2020. <\/p>\n Arcane Research noted<\/a> in its latest weekly report that a total of 312,000 validators staked 10 million ETH on the Merge \u2014 also called Ethereum 2.0<\/a> \u2014 smart contacts. <\/p>\n That amounts to nearly $26 billion worth of Ether, more than 8% of its total circulating supply, now locked away.\u00a0The prospects of more Ether going out of circulation<\/a>, coupled with hopes of higher demand, have pushed its price up by nearly 360% from its December 2020 low of around $525 to date.<\/p>\n Lito Coen, founder of Crypto Testers \u2014 a product comparison platform \u2014\u00a0anticipates<\/a>\u00a0the Merge\u2019s launch to have Ethereum\u2019s daily emission rate slashed from 12,000 ETH per day to 1,280, noting that the network\u2019s \u201cyearly inflation will go down from 4.3% to 0.43%\u201d \u2014 equivalent of three Bitcoin halvings.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAnd the 0.4% inflation figure is without taking into account the automated ETH\u00a0burn introduced by EIP-1559 ($5b burnt since launch) taking ETH\u00a0burn into account Ethereum will be deflationary,\u201d Coen wrote.<\/p>\n A bullish divergence between Ethereum\u2019s daily active addresses (DAA) and ETH\u2019s price is also emerging, according<\/a> to data from analytics platform Santiment.<\/p>\n Notably, Ethereum\u2019s DAA fell but not as much as the prices, which dropped about 35% in the past four months. That indicated that users continued to interact with the Ethereum network for reasons beyond speculation and trading.<\/p>\nETH\u2019s price paints \u201csymmetrical triangle\u201d<\/h2>\n
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The Merge\u00a0<\/h2>\n
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Positive divergence between utility and prices<\/h2>\n
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