Ethereum and Bitcoin are competing for dominance on the blockchain this week, driving profits. The ETH network, in particular, has recorded the highest ratio of profitable on-chain transfers in three months. Of every 2.3 cryptocurrency units moved on the Ethereum network, roughly 1 unit is at a loss, and the remaining 1.3 units have moved at a profit, as per leading data aggregator Santiment. The leading altcoin fared better compared to its peers, like Cardano’s ADA, which recorded more loss transactions than profitable ones.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s profit ratio is quite high, at 1.8 to 1. As reported earlier, approximately 93% of BTC holders who have either bought or sold in the past year have secured gains as of February 25, 2024. CryptoQuant analysts predicted that the price would rise to the level of 55–60K or even form a new ATH.
On the other hand, Eth surpassed the $3k milestone after two years. With more than 83% of addresses in profit already, the only hurdle is to overcome the $3k resistance zone. Financial assets often struggle to cross such big-round numbers. However, experts believe that with ETFs on the horizon, there is little chance that the $3K resistance will hold the coin back for too long.
In a recent study led by Bybit, institutional traders are more optimistic about ETH and BTC, with around
40% to Bitcoin, 40% to Ether, 15% to stablecoins, and only 5% to altcoins, as of January 31, 2024. The choice for ETH has risen since September 2023 and skyrocketed in January 2024 to become the single largest holding by INS as of January 31, 2024.
Institutions More Bullish On Ethereum-Bybit
The over-allocation to Ether is attributed to institutions’ anticipation of the positive impact of the Dencun upgrade. Set to go live in March 2024, the hard fork brings Ethereum Improvement Proposal [EIP] 4844, known as “proto-danksharding, which is expected to substantially reduce transaction fees on layer-2 rollup networks. The upcoming upgrade might not match the level of the Merge, but its introduction is touted to bring transformative changes to Ethereum’s consensus and execution layers.
These include a “transient storage” system to reduce fees further and enhance transparency by storing the root of each beacon chain block in a smart contract, catering to bridges and staking pools.