The crypto market is regaining its footing slowly but surely following a correctional decline. Meanwhile, most digital tokens are trading higher. Amid a full-fledged recovery, Ethereum is asserting strength almost to the same degree as Bitcoin. Here is the proof. ETH has recently leapt in value by 21% for the first time since 2017. Besides, the altcoin has surged by 11% whereas Bitcoin has risen by a modest 3%. The notable difference is visible in market sentiment. BTC is about to enter a recovery phase. Crypto investors have already pushed ETH out of a trading range. Now the digital token is ready to update a new all-time high.
There are weighty reasons to believe that Ethereum is now on the way to an extremely powerful rally in the last few years. There are some preconditions for that. Importantly, we see a massive inflow of investments from institutional investors. According to Santiment, as of December 2, large ETH holders own 44% of all altcoin emission that equals 52 million tokens. Over the recent week, large crypto investors, who hold wallets with 100K to 10 million tokens, purchased another 676K of ETH coins. It indicates robust demand for Ethereum. All in all, the behavior of institutional investors signals that the powerful rally is about to emerge. The first sign was an impulsive surge above the upper border of the trading range between $4,100 and 4,300.
The next stage for Ethereum will be a bullish breakout of the ultimate resistance zone. This is a tough challenge and the crypto needs some time before this zone will be conquered. The price is facing two important obstacles at $4,800 and $4,860 which serve as strong resistance. The first obstacle is 0.786 Fibonacci level where the sellers are confident, judging by upper shadows of the previous candlesticks. The second obstacle to overcome is the level in close proximity to the all-time high. The token still has to fight for that high.
As of 11:00 today, Ethereum made a failed attack on 0.786 Fibonacci level and dropped off. Here I see an important bullish move because the price tried to decline below 0.618 Fibonacci level, but the buyers entered the market bought ETH during its decline. As a result, the red candlestick formed a long tail downwards. This is positive sigh because the token is holding very close to the key zone. Support at $4,500 does allow ETH to tumble. At the same time, the formation of an uncertain doji candle indicates an equal balance between the bulls and bears. In the meantime, the price is fluctuating between $4,500 and $4,660. In this context, I assume that the altcoin is set to consolidate for the most part of this trading day. Technical indicators confirm my forecast. MACD is moving higher, albeit in the flat market. Stochastic is still oscillating at around 75.
To sum up, the market conditions for Ethereum is clearly bullish. The token has taken a pause after a failed attempt to break the ultimate resistance zone for a further bullish trend. I suppose that the consolidation period will be over later today. Afterwards, we could expect an impulsive growth beyond the ultimate resistance zone. The market sentiment is the key for the rally. The bulls have set the stage for a strong upward move, having accumulated record volumes of the popular digital token. Ethereum is more likely to break the ultimate resistance in the same way as it used to exit the flat market between $4,100 and $4,300. I foresee the prospect that ETH will make a pause at the psychological level of $5,000 that will be followed by a further rally.