Embattled cryptocurrency Ether jumped almost 10% in the past 24 hours and gained about 24% in the past seven days, as Ethereum’s developers provided a more detailed timeline for the “Merge,” a highly anticipated upgrade that will transition the blockchain from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake, a consensus mechanism that is much more energy efficient.
Last week, Tim Beiko, who organizes Ethereum
ETHUSD,
core developer calls, projected the “Merge” to be launched in the week of September 19. The timeline is still subject to change, Beiko noted.
Ether briefly reached as high as $1,507 on Monday, the loftiest level since June 12, and recently was trading around $1,479, according to CoinDesk data.
Despite the rally, ether still is down about 69% from its all-time high, and several major players in the crypto complex collapsed this summer. Crypto hedge fund Three Arrows was ordered to be liquidated by a court in the British Virgin Islands, while crypto broker Voyager and lender Celsius filed for bankruptcy restructuring consecutively in the U.S.
From the technical perspective, “there is no long-term resistance until the monthly trend at 2195/2236” for ether price, William Basa, president and founder at Global Market Research, wrote in a Monday note.
Bitcoin
BTCUSD,
also has bounced, with the largest cryptocurrency reaching $22,493 on Monday, the highest level in more than a month, though the crypto is still 67% lower from its all-time high in November.
Open interests in bitcoin futures has gone up roughly 20% since July 1, according to a Monday note by Kaiko Research. Such a rise usually indicates increased activity in the derivatives market.
Meanwhile, bitcoin futures funding rates have been grinding upward. “This would seem to indicate that the majority of new positions being entered into are long positions and help explain why we’ve seen a so-called relief rally” in the past week or so, analysts at Kaiko wrote.
“With such a buildup in open interest, the next move in funding rates and price will be crucial as the market looks primed for some short term volatility,” the analysts wrote.
