A look at on-chain indicators for Ethereum (ETH) in order to determine if the recent drop has waned the interest of participants in the market.

Interest in ETH remains high both in the form of increased staking and higher percentage of the supply that is locked in smart contracts.

ETH use on Uniswap
The first thing we will take a look at will be the number of transactions on Uniswap, which is the largest decentralized exchange (DEX).

Despite the drop, the number of transactions on is still high. There were 161,317 transactions on June 15, a level similar to that of April.

Therefore, participants are still using their ETH in order to make transactions on Uniswap, being relatively unfazed by the sharp drop.


Chart By Glassnode
Furthermore, the mean amount of gas used per transaction is also relatively high, likely as a result of the high number of transactions. It is currently 80,515, which is a yearly high, and not that far off from the all-time high of 90,314.

This is not the same as the mean gas price paid per transaction, which has fallen considerably as a result of the decrease in the ETH price.


Chart By Glassnode
Exchange movement
An interesting development is that ETH is still continuously leaving exchanges, something that has been going on since the end of January.  Therefore, investors are either moving it to cold storage or staking it in anticipation of ETH 2.0.


Source: Twitter
The number of validators, meaning accounts that are depositing tokens to the ETH2 deposit address, are increasing.

On June 15, there were 83,592 validator accounts, which is a new all-time high.

This indicates that investors are staking tokens in anticipation of ETH 2.0.


Chart By Glassnode
Finally, a look at the percentage of ETH supply in smart contracts is also currently at an all-time high of 23.29%.

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Ethereum is one of the most trusted cryptocurrencies after Bitcoin but offers several advantages to its users
NFT market and offering of financial products leave it at a better pedestal
Lower fees and energy consumption to drive prices towards $10k by year-end
Lark Davis, the crypto content maker, predicts the bull run is set for the not-so-far-off future. With over 390K supporters, Lark Davis continually refreshes crypto aficionados on forecasts and news about digital currency Ethereum.

The change to Proof of Stake structure and the EIP1559 Fee Burning Update are major landmarks that will mark the uptick in Ethereum. The publicity encompassing this one has been continuing for quite a while now.

According to Davis, this shift will stop the environmental change and ecological effect conversation for the last time. With PoS, Ethereum’s energy utilization will fall stupendously.Ethereum is hoping to redesign its biological system with EIP1559 in about a month, which will present a charge consuming component.

Home of DeFi
Davis clarified this will primarily imply that for certain exchanges, rather than the expense going to diggers, it will be shipped off to a location for consumption. Truth be told, each day of Ethereum exchanges, a ton of ETH will be signed, ceaselessly diminishing stock.

He alluded to the Ethereum-related image that has been doing the rounds, calling it “Ultra Sound Money”, and expressing this update will siphon up its worth further. The Ethereum 2.0 progress is the greatest update going to the blockchain.

The change guarantees monstrous adaptability through network sharding, expanded organization effectiveness because of that, and more powerful application creation with Web Assembly. Davis referred to this and added that the news promotion will be immense.

It will guarantee a high incentive for ETH. The most proficient applications with the most profound liquidity are adhering to the top blockchain and supporting ETH requests. Several financial products are offered on the blockchain network for investors to capitalize on.

ETH for triple halving
Warbler specifies that despite the fact that there are a ton of contenders around, the best applications still need to be found on Ethereum.

Likewise, Davis helped watchers that part to remember the Ethereum 2.0 progress incorporates a triple dividing occasion. This will diminish ETH swelling from 4.5% to around 0.5%. Moreover, it will add to the emotional monetary shift set off by the charge consuming overhaul, prompting less and less ETH accessible on market.

Financial institutions are dazzled with Ethereum and its creative redesigns. Consequently, large organizations and foundations’ advantage in it is rising. Likewise, watching its most recent updates, for example, marking grants and charge burnings is urging them to try and sell Bitcoin and purchase ETH.

Ethereum the premiere internet index
The YouTuber added that holding ETH gives an investor openness to everything occurring on the stage, going from DeFi, gaming, NFTs, and trying to be the market chief. Ethereum empowers investors with substantially more data and access than other blockchains.

So far 58,412 individuals have watched the video. There is no uncertainty that this will reestablish financial backers’ premium in the crypto market and in Ethereum as a resource.

Above all, Davis noticed, the financial aspects of the blockchain will move from mine-and-dump to stake-and-HODL. This is an energizing change as ETH will offer clients a motivator to stake ETH as a trade off for procuring more ETH by approving exchanges.

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El Salvador's Minister of Labor and Social Welfare Rolando Castro says that the government is currently discussing whether companies should pay salaries in Bitcoin, according to Telenoticias21.

The details about the new plan remain scant, and it's unclear how employers will be able to mitigate the cryptocurrency's volatility.     

The Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Finance are jointly working on the issue together with the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare.

El Salvador’s 2001 Monetary Integration Law includes Article 7, which states that all salaries were payable in dollars when the country replaced the Salvadoran colon with the greenback during Francisco Flores's presidency. 

Last week, Congress passed President Nayib Bukele's groundbreaking Bitcoin bill with a supermajority vote, making El Salvador the first country to adopt the cryptocurrency as legal tender.

Merchants will be able to price goods and services in Bitcoin, but the U.S. dollar will still be used as the reference currency for accounting purposes.

El Salvadorians will also be able to pay tax contributions in the flagship crypto.

On top of that, the tropical country plans to utilize geothermal energy generated by its volcanoes for mining.     

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Mohamed A. El-Erian, the chief economic advisor for Allianz, an asset management and insurance firm recently appeared on CNBC’s Squawk Box, where he talked about Fed’s recent meeting, Bitcoin and Elon Musk. The chief economic advisor said Bitcoin is currently in a tug-of-war between regulation and adoption. He said Elon Musk, the Tesla CEO has a huge impact on the adoption side.

"It's a tug of war between adoption and regulation and @elonmusk has a huge influence on the adoption side of that equation," says @elerianm on #bitcoin. pic.twitter.com/VQ6kLLCmvO

— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) June 14, 2021

El-Erian pointed towards today’s Bitcoin price gain of over 10% post Musk’s Tweet about the top cryptocurrency.

Musk while responding to an allegation of pumping and dumping the Bitcoin market reinstated that Tesla has only sold 10% of its $1.5 billion purchase and willing to reconsider Bitcoin payment for the car purchase if Bitcoin mining becomes greener.

El Erian said,

” Musk has a huge impact on the adoption side, first he said Tesla would accept Bitcoin as a payment implying it is a “currency,” then said he is not sure and today he again hinted at using it as a form of payment.”

Musk has quite a love-hate relationship with Bitcoin, where he first became a Bitcoin hero after Tesla revealed its $1.5 billion bitcoin purchase and later also announced they would accept BTC as payment. However, just a few later Tesla withdrew its plan claiming environmental concerns. The decision received heavy backlash from the crypto community that started a tweet war between the two sides.

Musk’s Tweet a Crypto Market Mover
Elon Musk is known for the outrageous and obnoxious tweets, however, it is not new and his tweets have also led to price volatility in Tesla stocks in the past as well. Earlier he was called out for his continuous pumping of the Dogecoin meme currency that brought him close to getting an SEC notice.

While mainstream media often point out the drastic impact of Musk’s Tweet on the crypto market, they fail to mention a similar impact on stock markets.

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El Salvador’s adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender has compelled analysts on Wall Street to re-evaluate their positions on the currency’s future. Once considered a niche asset, the digital currency is now under review in several countries, some of which are designing legal frameworks to regulate its movement. Many are wondering if this sea change in official attitudes can help Bitcoin replace fiat currencies like the dependable dollar.
Can Bitcoin Replace Fiat Currencies Like Dollar
In the recent past, several corporate giants have openly embraced Bitcoin by featuring it in their investment portfolios. The likes of Tesla, MicroStrategy, and Square have led the corporate crypto revolution, by parking their assets and offering transaction services to customers in the virtual currency. Some have also taken it upon themselves to ensure a greener future for the industry by reducing its energy consumption.

With El Salvador adopting Bitcoin on a nationwide scale, the focus is turning on authorities across the world. For the last 20 years, the country had been using the U.S. Dollar to carry out financial transactions. However, President Nayib Bukele sent shockwaves throughout the globe when he announced that his country was in the process of legalizing Bitcoin. The populist leader claimed the move was motivated by an interest to include more people in El Salvador’s formal economy and lessen the tax burden on remittances sent home.

Observers feel that the tropical country’s stunning decision may be linked to a broader change. Many are wondering if replacing a conventional currency — in this case, the dollar — on a national level will spark an international shift.

Dollar Will Evolve With Adoption of Blockchain Technology
For Julian Sawyer, the chief executive officer of Bitstamp, a Bitcoin exchange based in Luxembourg, the crypto sphere is not quite there yet. In a telephonic interview, Sawyer stated “There’s been a lot of people who have sat in the crypto world who’ve said, ‘Oh, crypto is going to take over the world and traditional banks and central banks will go away. That’s not going to happen.”

Blockchain technology itself has the promise to change the way traditional banking works, and in time it will trigger an evolution in the sector’s services. But cryptocurrencies, according to sawyer, will not completely diminish the importance of the dollar owing to their volatility.

Speaking on the potential changes in banking, Sawyer added, “Will there still be the dollar? Yes, Will there still be Visa and Mastercard? Absolutely. It will just be we’ll have alternatives for using plastic, or paper, or coins or checks.”

Fiat Currencies Do Not Fluctuate as Much as Bitcoin
Experts believe global commerce benefits greatly from the dollar’s stability. As compared to Bitcoin, which sees fluctuations after tweets and memes, the dollar’s value only moves a little due to systemic reasons.  This quality, in particular, makes the dollar ideal for countries looking for stability.

Since April, Bitcoin has shed nearly 50% of its market value. According to Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, the primary cryptocurrency quadrupled in value last year. Meanwhile, the dollar slipped by 5.5%. This stark contrast between the movements of the two currencies shows why the dollar remains the foundation of international trade. The Bank of America has found Bitcoin nearly four times as volatile as the Turkish Lira and Brazilian Real. Neither of these is considered to be a model of stability.

El Salvador Could Make a Case for BTC Adoption
Nevertheless, El Salvador’s Bitcoin friendliness can prompt other countries to board the crypto bandwagon. Following the passage of the groundbreaking legislation in El Salvador, many Latin lawmakers have come forward on social media, advocating for their nations to reconsider cryptocurrencies. Leah Wald, CEO of Valkyrie Investments believes that many countries cannot afford to look away from this option anymore. She said, “For the longevity and health and well-being of Bitcoin, and the Bitcoin network, this is the dawn of a new day.”

Haiti, Guatemala, South Sudan, and Liberia could be the next on the list of countries that adopt Bitcoin due to their dependence on remittance revenues. Other countries that have organized their economies around the dollar, could also become good candidates to legalize cryptocurrencies while reducing their reliance on the U.S. Federal Reserve and its policies.

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On June 25, Ether (ETH) will face its largest options expiry in 2021 as $1.5 billion worth of open interest will be settled. This figure is 30% larger than March's 26 expiry, which took place as Ether price plunged 17% in 5 days and bottomed near $1,550.

However, Ether rallied 56% after March's options expiry, reaching $2,500 within three weeks. These moves were completely uncorrelated to Bitcoin's (BTC). Therefore, it is essential to understand if a similar market structure could be underway for June 25 futures and options expiry.


Ether price at Bitstamp in March 2021, USD. Source: TradingView
Recent history shows a mix of bullish and bearish catalysts
On March 11, Ether miners organized a "show of force" against EIP-1559, which would significantly reduce their revenues.

The situation worsened on March 22, as CoinMetrics launched an "Ethereum Gas Report," stating that the highly anticipated EIP-1559 network upgrade would unlikely solve the high gas problem.

Things started to change on March 29, as Visa announced plans to use the Ethereum blockchain to settle a transaction made in fiat, and on April 15, the Berlin upgrade was successfully implemented. According to Cointelegraph, after Berlin launched, "the average gas fee began to decline to more manageable levels."

Before jumping to conclusions and speculating whether these phenomena of the Ether price bottoming near the upcoming $1.5 billion options expiry are bullish or bearish, it's best first to analyze how large traders are positioned.


Ether options open interest by expiry date. Source: Bybt
Take notice of how June's expiry holds over 638,000 ETH options contracts, totaling 45% of the aggregate $3.4 billion open interest.

Unlike futures contracts, options are divided into two segments. Call (buy) options allow the buyer to acquire Ether at a fixed price on the expiry date. Generally speaking, these are used on neutral arbitrage trades or bullish strategies.

Meanwhile, the put (sell) options are commonly used to hedge or protect from negative price swings.


June 25 Ether options open interest by strike. Source: Bybt
For bulls, $2,200 is the line in the sand
As displayed above, there's a disproportionate amount of call options at $2,200 and higher strikes. This means that if Ether's price on June 25 happens to be below this level, 73% of the neutral-to-bullish options will be worthless. The 95,000 call options still in play would represent a $228 million open interest.

On the other hand, most protective put options have been opened at $2,100 or lower. Consequently, 74% of those neutral-to-bearish options will become worthless if the price stays above this level. Therefore, the remaining 73,700 put options would represent a $177 million open interest.

It seems premature to call who might be the winner of this race, but considering Ether's current $2,400 price, it looks like both sides are reasonably comfortable.

However, traders should keep a close eye on this event, especially considering the price impact that surrounded the March expiry.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph. Every investment and trading move involves risk. You should conduct your own research when making a decision.

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On Friday, June 11, 2021, data shows that Taproot could get locked-in this coming weekend, as the signal ratio is 98.3% and a touch more than 100 additional signaling blocks are needed to lock in the upcoming soft fork.

Bitcoin Upgrade Taproot Inches Toward Lock-in, Success Means Activation in November
Participants involved with the Bitcoin (BTC) network are preparing to see a softfork in November if the signaling status of “Speedy trial support for versionbits #21377” gets locked in this weekend.
According to the Github “Taproot-Activation” documentation, the Bitcoin Taproot upgrade involves an “upgrade that can be deployed as a forward-compatible soft fork.”
The upgrade also combines the “Schnorr signature scheme with MAST (Merklized Alternative Script Tree) and a new scripting language called Tapscript, Taproot will expand Bitcoin’s smart contract flexibility, while offering more privacy by letting users mask complex smart contracts as a regular bitcoin transaction.”
Bitcoiners believe the Taproot upgrade and adding the Schnorr signature scheme with MAST will benefit BTC’s privacy and scaling.
At the time of writing, the website taproot.watch indicates that the current signal ratio is 98.39% and “101 additional signaling blocks required for the softfork to lock in,” the web portal says.
The popular bitcoin evangelist Andreas Antonopoulos tweeted about the lock-in period coming up and said: “Taproot will be locked-in for a November activation in the next 36 hours. A big success for Bitcoin, Taproot introduces a second signature algo (Schnorr) and significant privacy features. Also a big success for the “Speedy Trial” activation method with
If Taproot is successful it will be the largest upgrade Bitcoin (BTC) has seen in four years since the introduction of Segregated Witness (Segwit) in 2017.

On Friday, software developer Jimmy Song tweeted about Taproot getting closer to lock-in. “Taproot seems to be inching its way to lock-in. Blocks have been a bit on the slow side (projected difficulty adjustment is -4.5%),” Song tweeted. “By this time tomorrow, we should be all set for Taproot.”
The taproot.watch programmer and noncustodial Lightning Network Blixt wallet developer Hampus Sjöberg also tweeted about Taproot locking in soon. “Taproot is a 100 years softfork,” Sjöberg wrote.
“Merging every contract and use-case under a single transaction type ‘Pay to Taproot’ will in the long-run yield a more fungible and robust blockchain. This is how you do it. This is how you design a blockchain,” the developer Hampus Sjöberg added.

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Bitcoin (BTC) has been increasing since bouncing from support on June 8.

BTC is following a descending resistance line and is potentially making its fifth attempt at breaking out.

Ongoing BTC bounce
Bitcoin has been increasing since bouncing from support on June 8, after reaching a local low of $31,000. It created a bullish engulfing candlestick on June 9 and reached a high of $38,491 the next day.

However, technical indicators do not confirm the trend reversal. While they are leaning bullish, there are some mixed signals in place. The MACD is increasing, nearly crossing into positive territory, and the Stochastic oscillator has made a bullish cross.

There is a strong medium-term bullish divergence in place in the RSI (blue). Despite this, yesterday’s high also confirmed a hidden bearish divergence (red), which is a strong sign of bearish trend continuation.

BTC has to invalidate this hidden divergence with a higher high in order to confirm a bullish pattern.


BTC Chart By TradingView
Future movement
The six-hour chart shows that BTC is following a descending resistance line since May 20. Yesterday marked the fourth time it was rejected by it.

Technical indicators in the six-hour time frame are more bullish. The RSI has crossed above the 50-line and the MACD is close to turning positive.

A breakout from the line would take it towards the next resistance level at $41,300, $44,750, and potentially $48,200. Conversely, the closest support area is found at $32,400.


BTC Chart By TradingView
Wave count
The movement since May 10 is a three-wave upward structure. Therefore, it’s unlikely to be the beginning of a bullish impulse. Rather, it’s potentially the A wave of an A-B-C flat correction, which would be contained inside a an ascending parallel channel.

Therefore, the most likely possibility is that wave C takes BTC towards $44,050. This would give waves A:C a 1:1 ratio and the price would reach the resistance line of the channel.

If wave C extends, it could take BTC all the way up to $51,764. At the current time, we cannot determine whether the upward movement will extend or not.

A breakout from the channel and movement above $47,000 would likely indicate that the low is in, while a rejection at the resistance line of the channel would favor the possibility of BTC eventually dropping towards another low.

For the long-term count, click here.


BTC Chart By TradingView

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