Ether bulls target $3,000 as the next set-up for ETH bullish rally. While remaining just bits away from the milestone, the altcoin corrected by 46% the last time it traded above this level.

Ether (ETH) price has been on an upward trend for over 10 days, accumulating gains of 21.5% and tapping $3,000 in the $2,900 range. The bullish momentum in the crypto market is stemmed from the record inflows into the recently launched spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Nevertheless, Ether can boast of other crucial drivers that may boost it above $3,000 – a milestone, previously achieved in March 2022, bringing strong correction afterwards. But will ETH rally to the $3,000 turn out differently this time?

Next Candidate for ETF?

Seeing Ether’s leading position in the altcoin market, it is the next closest candidate to receive a spot ETF. The rumours about it had been circulating the Web even before Bitcoin ETF’s were approved, and now the chances for ETH are increased.

Regardless of the informational impact, Ether-ETF may generate decent net inflows, positively influencing the asset’s value – just along the lines of Bitcoin. Far better, this would distinguish ETH among its closest competitors – Solana and BNB Chain. Not to mention the regulative hurdles that may be levelled, diminishing uncertainty for Ether potential investors.

Dencun Upgrade and Utility

Among the positive factors for Ether value, it's the Dencun upgrade that stands out. The hard fork is expected on March 13 and is reported to reduce transaction costs on the Ethereum layer 2. By offering more block space and reducing gas costs for rollups, these reforms could potentially boost the usage of decentalized applications (dApps) and increase deposits in their smart contracts. Thus, this may spur the higher demand rates for ETH.

The Dencun anticipation illustrates that the utility's role in investment fundamentals has consolidated, as the top 20 largest coins in the market (except Bitcoin and stables) provide for the new functional facilities and advancement of blockchain technology. Near Protocol, Celestia, WhiteBIT Coin – all of them directly influence the wider crypto adoption. The creation of the lesser one – WhiteBIT – has been integrating crypto into sports by initiating tickets for Ukraine-Israel/Iceland football match sell for digital currencies, and been contributing to Web3 and sports cooperation.

Seeing that the investors’ choices are more and more inclining towards the assets with rather tangible roles, Ethereum could win from such a tendency.

April 2022 Scars: Why Reaching $3,000 May Not Set Ether on Bullish Rails

Yet ETH local win of achieving $3,000 within a short period remains questionable. Despite the multiple reasons to believe the $3K milestone is within arm’s reach, previous price actions hint that sustaining such a range beyond local sentiment is much harder.

For instance, on April 3, 2022, ETH concluded its 3-week 42% rise with achieving $3,580. But the rally did not prolong, and ETH has decreased by 46% in the following 40 days.

Now, traders are questioning whether Ether will repeat such a tendency in 2024.

Crucially, Ethereum hitting $3,000 has a strong probability to happen as the asset begins to touch the range locally.

What is more, as per Gideon Geoffrey at Coinformania, indicators prove that the ETH remains on an uptrend. Namely, Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD), the 12-day EMA and the 26-day EMA are both on the rise and are showing no signals for a downtrend. The weekly chart also indicates that the next key target to watch after the $3,000 milestone is $3,400.

Nevertheless, a closer look at the chart reveals a bearish flag pattern, hinting that the uptrend may come to a halt. If this happens, ETH may drop to retest 1 ($2,500) or 2 ($2,300) of the highlighted supports. With fundamentals in view, the said mark may hold up for a few days until another uptrend starts.

Indeed, Ethererum price’s bullish signals are backed by the uptrending Relative Strength Index (RSI), entering the overbought section on the daily chart. The tendency is indicated by the 21-week Moving Average Exponential (EMA), the 50-week EMA and the 200-week EMA.

The bearish candle at $2,800 signifies the temporal hurdle of ETH to gain bullish momentum. Contrary to the chart, Ether succeeded to reach $3,000 for a short time while keeping the bullish tendency.

The next important resistance after reclaiming the $3,000 S/R lies in the range between $3,500 and $3,600 based on the chart. It also signals that the path to $3,200 could be relatively smooth, with only minor blocks lined up.