Ethereum News Update
Among seasoned Ethereum investors, there’s a belief that Bitcoin will undergo a crisis moment at some point in the future.
Here’s what would theoretically happen: Bitcoin starts to lose investor confidence, Ethereum is treated as a safe-haven asset, investment flows from BTC to ETH increase, and then the ETH/BTC ratio rises above 1.0.
This moment is referred to as the “flippening”—the precise moment that Ethereum is crowned leader of all cryptocurrencies.
Naturally, it’s impossible to forecast a precise date for this event. Even if you could figure exactly when it would happen, the mere act of knowing would alter trading patterns and thereby change the date.
That said, I thought we were getting closer in January.
Remember what was happening? Crypto values were crashing, but rather than flocking to Bitcoin, investors ran straight to Ethereum. Investors were perceiving it as a safe-haven asset, a shelter in the storm.
Ethereum Price Chart
Two things happened as a result:
- The ETH/BTC rate moved above 0.1.
- BTC dominance slipped into the low 30% range.
I took this as proof positive that a flippening was on the horizon. And I might have been right if the January cryptocurrency crash had stopped at ~20% losses. But it did not.
The losses deepened, pessimism spread, and even Ethereum prices started to slip. By the time they crossed beneath $900.00, I knew there was little hope of a Q1 flippening.
Although we are starting to see some upside momentum in prices, I’m afraid the flippening has been set back several months. Just look at the data!
The cryptocurrency market cap increased by 6.2% overnight. If Ethereum was benefitting from safe-haven status, fresh investment would have landed disproportionately in ETH. But given that Ethereum prices only rose 1.6% overnight, we know that’s not what happened.
Most of the fiat conversions went straight into Bitcoin, which is why BTC prices were up approximately 7.5% at the time of writing.
Analyst Take
As a fan of Ethereum, I’m not particularly happy about the delay. But “que será, será” is a thought that comes to mind, because I still believe the flippening is inevitable.
And, on another positive note, ETH prices don’t need this catalyst to reach our Q2 Ethereum price forecast of $1,500. There are plenty of other reasons why Ethereum could reach that level, including the introduction of futures contracts, exchanges, or ICOs.
Source: Price Confidential
