Ethereum’s price action has been closely correlated to Bitcoin’s over the past several weeks, leading ETH’s price to dip into the lower-$150 region, which is where it has been able to find some levels of support.
Ethereum’s much-anticipated Istanbul hard fork has come about concurrently with ETH’s ongoing downtrend, and it appears that investors are not too enthused with this latest development, as sellers remain firmly in control of the cryptocurrency.
Ethereum Struggles to Gain Upwards Momentum Despite Istanbul Hard Fork
At the time of writing, Ethereum is trading up over 1% at its current price of $151, which marks a slight climb from its recent lows of $146 that were visited on multiple occasions over the past week.
It is important to note that Ethereum did face some resistance at $152, which appears to be a strong level of resistance for the cryptocurrency. It is important to note that ETH has incurred some upwards momentum today as Bitcoin begins moving towards its near-term resistance level at $8,000.
Ethereum has been caught within a firm bout of sideways trading ever since it faced a massive drop to lows of $135 in late-November, which appears to be an incredibly strong support level for the cryptocurrency.
One event that some investors had been looking towards as a potential bullish catalyst is Ethereum’s Istanbul hard fork, which was successfully implemented today.
Teddy, a popular cryptocurrency analyst on Twitter, spoke about this much delayed hard fork in a recent tweet, saying:
“After 950 delays #Ethereum finally completed its hard fork – Istanbul,” he noted.
https://twitter.com/teddycleps/status/1203608598363795456?s=21
Will Strong Multi-Year Resistance Force ETH Lower?
It is important to note that Ethereum has been stuck beneath one strong descending resistance level for two years, and it has shown few signs of having enough strength to break above this level.
Teddy also spoke about this resistance in a tweet, noting that it spells trouble for the future price action of the cryptocurrency.
“#ETHEREUM | $ETH: Unless Istanbul, the latest hard fork can generate a new wave of interest – this bad boy: – is hitting lower support levels and thus cover those gaps burning my eyes – look at that 2 year long resistance, NOT a scratch,” he said while pointing to the chart seen below.
https://twitter.com/teddycleps/status/1203167306374762497?s=20
Although Istanbul is unlikely to have any sway on Ethereum’s near-term price action, it is highly probable that ETH will only break above its strong resistance if Bitcoin gains some notable upwards momentum.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
