- BTC and ETH’s price action this year was some of the best of the century.
- BTC showed weakness, indicating a decline below $43,000, while ETH could move towards $2,500.
Bitcoins [BTC] and that of Ethereum [ETH] performances in 2023 would go down as one of the best ever in the century, according to a report from Santiment. At the time of writing, BTC could have recovered $43,000. ETH, on the other hand, skyrocketed and changed hands to $2,380.
The crypto analysis tool also mentioned in its post that ETH and BTC have the ability to reach their highest values before the year ends.
🥳📊 2023 will go down as one of the best performing years of the century, good for several major sectors. #Bitcoin And #Ethereum are still within range of breaking 1.5+ year highs reached just three weeks ago. https://t.co/JxbW5vU5Iy pic.twitter.com/aLSGX5U2Vv
— Santiment (@santimentfeed) December 27, 2023
After the sparkle comes the party
At the beginning of the year, the crypto market struggled to recover from the FTX collapse, causing prices to plummet. During that time, BTC was worth less than $17,000, while ETH traded just above $1,200.
The rise of Bitcoin and Ethereum was caused by several reasons.
But around the first quarter (Q1), the main reason was the collapse of some top traditional institutions in the US. The banking crash at that time caused distrust in the institutions.
In turn, the crypto market led by Ethereum and Bitcoin benefited from the extracted liquidity as it also influenced prices in a good way.
While there were other reasons for the continued price increase, the notable influence that has kept both coins on the green side is the optimism surrounding a potential spot ETF. For most of the year, several companies have filed for an Ethereum or Bitcoin ETF. In some cases, some companies have applied for both.
These filings, despite being delayed by the US SEC, affected investment inflows. On many occasions, AMBCrypto announced increases in the flow of funds into investment products related to Bitcoin and Ethereum.
The inflow indicated that several institutions were confident in the short- and long-term performance of the cryptocurrencies. So it was not surprising that BTC rose 159% Year-To-Date (YTD).
ETH was also followed by a 98% increase. Going into the last few days, there are predictions that the coins could end the year even better.
Bulls and bears compete for the top prize
For Bitcoin, the daily chart showed strong support at $42,279. However, support at this level was not confirmation of a bullish trend.
AMBCrypto evaluated the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD), which was negative.
The negative MACD indicated increasing downward momentum. Furthermore, the Relative Strength Index (RSI) confirmed this bias as the value fell to 54.52. If this trend continues, Bitcoin could end the year below $43,000.
Source: TradingView
However, the chart above also shows that On Balance Volume (OBV) increased. The rising OBV reflects positive volume pressure that could lead to higher prices.
If buying pressure increases just before the end of the year, BTC could reach $45,000. If not, a downward move below $43,000 could be the next target.
Meanwhile, the ETH/USD 4-hour chart reflected a bullish structure. On December 27, ETH had surpassed the resistance at $2,290. But the coin price was quickly rejected after it reached $2,415, indicating that there was a cluster of accumulation at this level.
Although volatility increased, the upper band of the Bollinger Bands (BB) reached the ETH price. This suggests that the altcoin was overbought and the price could retreat further. But when we look at the Directional Movement Index (DMI), the story was different.
Source: TradingView
Realistic or not, here is the market cap of ETH in BTC terms
At the time of writing, the +DMI (green) was 33.92, while the -DMI (red) was 16.35. This stance implied that ETH’s bullish tendencies remained under pressure.
Should the Average Directional Index (ADX), colored yellow, remain above 25 while the +DMI is at the top of the -DMI, ETH could retest $2,415 or jump to $2,500 before the year closes.