Ethereum (ETH) price is lagging behind Bitcoin price ahead of its historic Shapella upgrade. The ongoing price action suggests that the much-awaited upgrade might turn out to be a sell-the-news event. Analysts were expecting the ETH price to soar above $2000 before Shapella, but it is unlikely to happen as it is trading at $1867 just hours before the key milestone.
After surging above $30,400 on Tuesday, Bitcoin price had a pullback on Wednesday. This triggered a sell-off in ETH price as well, which lost 0.43% in its BTC pair today. Most other altcoins also tumbled as Bitcoin dominance had another green day.
How Will Shapella Affect ETH Price?
Shapella upgrade is the biggest milestone in Ethereum 2.0 since last year’s Merge. The latest upgrade will enable the withdrawal of staked ether on the blockchain. While many analysts think that this can increase the selling pressure in the coming days, many believe that the newly staked ETH will offset the effect.
Ethereum price has remained very volatile in the past few weeks. Despite an increase in investor interest, the hype of the major upgrade hasn’t been enough to pump ETH above its August 2022 high of $2030. In the coming days, the price may remain sideways as BTC attempts to reclaim the key psychological level of $30,000.
Ethereum Price Shows Weakness
The ETH/BTC chart is more valid than the ETH/USDT chart in predicting future ETH price moves. This chart shows that the native asset of the Ethereum blockchain has been in a downtrend since September 2022. This shows that the money is flowing from Ethereum to Bitcoin, which is now trading at its highest level since June 2022.
For the Ethereum price prediction to flip bullish, either ETH needs to break out of the downtrend on its BTC chart or close a day above $2030 on its USD chart. Both of these are unlikely to happen if the BTC/USD gets rejected from $30,000. The price action will remain volatile this week due to the release of the CPI report on April 12.
I’ll keep posting my updated Ethereum analysis in my free Telegram group, which you are welcome to join.
