Ethereum, just like many other altcoins in the market, ended 2022 on a less-than-stellar note.
The second largest cryptocurrency by market cap, after being hit by the FTX crash in November late last year, recovered slightly better than Bitcoin.
After hitting 1,077 after the crash, Bitcoin's sister cryptocurrency managed to reprise its standing above $1,300. Ethereum even managed to go as high as the $1,350 resistance before the bears caught up to the bulls and the cryptocurrency fell right down to $1,152. overall, however, things look promising for Ethereum in January.
Despite the bearishness of the general crypto market, Ethereum appears to be on the verge of a potentially strong move in either direction and as far as fundamentals go, the direction of the general market over the next few weeks will play a huge role in the direction of ETH when the time comes.
According to CoinMarketCap, it is clear that the bears are in control of most of the market. However, their influence on Ethereum in particular is negligible.
CMC calculates that Ethereum is bullish over the last 24 hours, after rising from an intra-day low of #1,212 and hitting the $1,216 zone where it now sits.
However, when compared to the rest of the cryptocurrencies on the market within the last 7 days, the effects of the bears' influence on Ethereum are minimal. The cryptocurrency has only declined by 0.61% over the last seven days.
This indicates that while the cryptocurrency's bulls may be lacking in an ability to push strongly against the bears, they still have enough strength to hold their footing against further declines towards the bottom.
The trading volume on the cryptocurrency also appears healthy and has spiked by an impressive 20.55% over the last day.
However, it is important to note that while Ethereum may make impressive moves to the upside in the first quarter of the year, the real bullish momentum on the cryptocurrency may take a while to appear, and is generally believed to happen sometime in March.
A close look at the charts would show that while the effects of the FTX collapse are visible on Ethereum, they were still negligible compared to the declines in the other cryptocurrencies.
For example, in the mid-2022 market crash (fueled by the Terra ecosystem crash in May), Ethereum fell from a high of $3,569 to as low as $864 in a -76% move that spanned a little less than three months.
However, as severe as the FTX collapse was, Ethereum only fell by 35% from $1,661 to $1,077 (which was nowhere as low as the June 2022 low of $866.
However, a close look at the chart shows an emerging pattern. Connecting June 2022 low and the low from the FTX collapse, an ascending trendline can be drawn. If combined with another trendline from the top, a symmetric triangle can be drawn on the Ethereum chart.
As illustrated above, this formation has been valid since June 2022, bringing us to the price prediction for Ethereum in January 2023.
Judging by the strength the Ethereum bulls have displayed against the bears who have tried to sink its price below the lower trendline, Ethereum is expected to rally to the upside over the coming weeks and is may test the top of the formation sometime around 21 January.
Overall, the RSI signal line is slightly below the neutral zone, meaning that the bulls and bears have a slightly equal chance of pushing against each other over the coming weeks.
In general, if the bulls are able to push the bears and initiate a breakout from the top of the formation, Ethereum will have its first real chance at rallying toward $1,700 or beyond in 2023.
And if the bulls are unable to create a breakout from this zone, a decline and retest of the bottom of the formation around $1,200 are more than likely.
With cryptocurrencies being the highly volatile assets that they are, there are no real ways to tell where they may rally to, or for how long they may stay there. However, Ethereum's journey for January 2023 appears highly interesting, and will, be one to pay attention to.
Disclaimer: Voice of crypto aims to deliver accurate and up-to-date information, but it will not be responsible for any missing facts or inaccurate information. Cryptocurrencies are highly volatile financial assets, so research and make your own financial decisions.