ethereum saw a rally, surpassing the $3,400 mark as markets reacted to political waves leading up to a presidential inauguration.
After struggling for a week, from January 11 to January 17, ethereum (eth) broke the downward movement, surpassed its last resistance level of $3,400 and is currently trading at $3,406.72 at the time of writing.
<img decoding="async" width="1494" height="924" src="https://crypto.news/app/uploads/2025/01/ETHUSD_2025-01-17_16-11-58.png” alt=”A candlestick chart showing the price movements of ethereum (eth) against the US Dollar over a five-minute period, posted on January 17, 2025 by cryptodotnews on TradingView. The chart highlights a break above the $3,400 resistance level, with strong bullish momentum and subsequent consolidation around $3,424. Key Fibonacci retracement zones and support levels are also marked.”/>
This market optimism is fueled by speculation that President-elect Donald Trump would sign a cryptocurrency-related executive order when he takes office on January 20.
Discussions are also underway for this order to include a directive for all federal agencies to review their crypto policies along with the possibility of suspending ongoing litigation against industry giants.
With an anticipated leadership change, the SEC decided yesterday to settle with Abra over unregistered crypto lending products. This has generated a positive movement for the entire cryptocurrency market, which experienced an increase of 3.54% in the last 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap.
Trump's pro-crypto stance is further strengthened by the news that pro-crypto congressman Tom Emmer was elected vice chairman of the Digital Assets Subcommittee on January 15.
Another component that has led to the rise of eth is the announcement of the upcoming release of the eth Pectra upgrade at the Execution Layer Meeting 203. The Pectra upgrade is eagerly awaited as a solution to some of ethereum's most challenging problems. .
Over the years, ethereum has faced congestion and increased gas fees. The Pectra upgrade aims to upgrade the consensus layer and improve transaction speed and efficiency, while laying the foundation for seamless interoperability between Layer 2 solutions and the mainnet, which is especially crucial for the future of blockchain expansion.
ethereum price could rise further
According to the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) chart, eth is providing buy signals, which means that, at least in the short term, some bullish momentum can be expected in price increases.
The MACD measures changes in momentum, indicating likely price trends, while HODL waves reflect long-term holding behavior. Combined, they give insight into future price movements.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1495" height="924" src="https://crypto.news/app/uploads/2025/01/ETHUSD_2025-01-17_16-13-21.png” alt=”A MACD chart of ethereum price movements against the US Dollar, showing momentum changes over a 5-minute time period. The chart features the MACD line, signal line and histogram, with recent bullish momentum indicated by the MACD line crossing above the signal line.”/>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1800" height="1013" src="https://crypto.news/app/uploads/2025/01/glassnode-studio_hodl-waves-5.png” alt=”A HODL Waves chart from Glassnode, showing ethereum price movements from 2016 to 2025 along with eth holders' holding periods, categorized by durations ranging from 24 hours to 10+ years. The chart shows a high percentage of long-term holders (1 year and more) increasing over time, which correlates with ethereum price increases.”/>
The holding wave, HODL, expresses strong long-term holding sentiment with a substantial supply of eth held for over twelve months, showing enduring investor confidence and less short-term selling pressure. These big events signal that eth is a likely candidate for a potential price surge. However, eth prices may see minor fluctuations as the market digests these developments.
