Ethereum News Update
After a devastating January, cryptocurrencies stabilized in early February. The calming event was—to everyone’s surprise—testimony from two U.S. regulators.
Jay Clayton of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and J. Christopher Giancarlo of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) provided expert guidance during U.S. Senate hearings on the future of virtual currencies…and their tone was bullish.
Of course, both men paid lip service to the enforcement of anti-fraud measures, but their overall position was lenient. Neither recommended a crackdown on cryptos—in fact, they stressed the importance of continued innovation in the sector.
Who would have guessed that the CFTC and SEC could have a positive effect on crypto valuations? Truth really is stranger than fiction.
Ethereum Price Chart
Nonetheless, Ethereum prices are moving sideways on Thursday morning. While the testimony was enough to staunch the bleeding of asset values, it is hardly enough to kickstart a recovery.
With that in mind, here are three stories that could drive ETH prices in the weeks and months to come:
- Greater clarity, calmer investors, and higher prices. The SEC is establishing disclosure policies for cryptos and initial coin offerings (ICOs), lending a measure of credibility to the emerging asset class. This could pacify investor anxieties over crypto scams and cybersecurity risks, leading to greater investment in the asset class.
- Scaling, scaling, and more scaling. Now that we’re back to basics, keep an eye on the issues that never went away, such as exorbitant transaction fees and painfully slow transfers. Ethereum is making enormous strides on these issues, according to the CoinDesk annual report. The Byzantium hard fork was only the beginning.
- Wall Street comes to town. In 2017, a handful of institutional investors entered the cryptocurrency space. We expect this trend to blossom in 2018, not least because Mark Novogratz raised $250.0 million for a fund and Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) opened a crypto trading desk. These could be early indications of massive Wall Street involvement in the space.
As these trends evolve, it’s unlikely that ETH prices will remain at their current level. The Ethereum to USD rate could blast off from its current rate of around $825.84.
Analyst Take
We continue to believe in our Ethereum price forecast $1,500 by the end of Q2.
Source: Price Confidential
