Ethereum prices have just broken the psychological $2,000 barrier once again and experts suggest it could be institutionally driven.
Friday morning’s Asian trading session has been a fruitful one for Ethereum holders. The price of the world’s second-largest digital asset has reclaimed the $2,000 barrier and is just $50 off, making a new all-time high at the time of press.
Ethereum is in the process of forming its fifth daily green candle, having increased by 4% over the past 24 hours. Weekly gains have been a whopping 26%, outperforming its big brother by a clear margin as BTC gains 16% over the same period.
According to Tradingview, ETH has climbed from $1,915 to top out at $2,005 before dipping back below the $2k level at the time of writing. One anomalous wick dumped prices back to the 50 hour EMA at $1,890, but there was no stopping the upward march.
ETH/USD Chart. Source: TradingView
Institutions Behind ETH Rally?
Ethereum is just a fraction away from its all-time high of $2,050, which came on Feb. 20, and analysts are suggesting that institutions may be loading up.
Crypto Quant CEO Ki Young Ju observed that 400,000 ETH flowed out from Coinbase a few days ago, adding that as a speculative guess, “institutions are now buying.”
Just as with Bitcoin, large exchange outflows are considered bullish as the asset is heading to cold wallets or institutional funds rather than being left ready to be sold in a hurry.
The most recent update from the world’s largest crypto fund, Grayscale, revealed that the assets under management figure is now a whopping $46 billion. Of this total, there is $6.1 billion in the Ethereum trust, which equates to roughly 3 million ETH – or 2.6% of the entire supply.
Gas Prices Surge
One unfortunate side effect of Ethereum closing in on a record price peak is the resurgence of gas fees.
According to Bitinfocharts, the average transaction fee had fallen 67% from an all-time high of $40 on Feb. 23 to $13 on March 27. This week’s rally has pushed that average back up to a painful $22 at the time of writing.
These are just average prices, so the gas fees for carrying out complex smart contract operations or tokens swaps on Uniswap are as high as $78, according to Etherscan.
Either way, Ethereum holders will be celebrating today as the asset teeters on the two thousand dollar level, poised to surge to a record high.
