Ethereum, which has seen a significant increase in long-term holdings in 2024, could potentially rise to $6,000 in the first quarter of 2025, according to analysts.
In a December 29 afterCryptoBullet, which has over 152,000 followers, noted that Ethereum is forming a bull pennant pattern on the 1-day ETH/USDT chart. He expects this pattern to complete in the coming months, potentially leading to a massive increase of up to $6,000 in the first quarter of 2025.
In technical analysis, a bull pennant pattern emerges after an asset experiences an uptrend, which typically signals a possible continuation of the rally.
The analyst recalled the price action of May 2021, when ETH rose above $4,000 for the first time after breaking a similar pattern in the first quarter of that year.
Analyst James CryptoGuru predicted a similar price target for Ethereum based on a technical indicator.
He noted that ETH has formed a multi-month bullish inverse head-and-shoulders pattern in 2024, which is expected to complete in early 2025. If ETH breaks this pattern, it could potentially rise as high as $8,100.
Meanwhile, so does fellow analyst Jelle anticipates a major breakthrough for ETH, indicating that Bitcoin’s dominance has broken down after a multi-year trend. They highlighted that the last time this happened, the price of ETH quadrupled within about five months.
These experts’ optimistic predictions equate to a rise in the number of long-term ETH holders – those who have held the asset for more than a year – from 59% in January to 75% by the end of 2024. In contrast, BTC rose in the long term . the number of term holders fell from 70% to 62% over the same period, according to a December 30 report after of IntoTheBlock, citing that of its platform facts.
Continued growth in the number of long-term holders could help support ETH’s price appreciation as the asset heads into 2025.
Another potential catalyst for a first-quarter Ethereum rally lies in historical performance patterns following early quarters marked by US elections and a Bitcoin halving cycle. According to CoinGlass data, the first quarter of 2017 and 2021 were among Ether’s best performing quarters, with recorded gains of 518% and 161% respectively.
Additionally, Ether exchange-traded funds have proven to be a key growth driver, with inflows on 22 of the past 24 trading days and an accumulation of more than $2.5 billion, according to facts from SoSoValue.
The continued momentum has fueled optimism, with one enthusiastic proponent of ETH to predict that Ether ETFs could attract net inflows of more than $50 billion by 2025.
Despite the bullish catalysts, the second-largest cryptocurrency could see some downward pressure due to selling activity among large holders.
According to facts from ITB, net inflows from whale holders have fallen significantly, from 220.88k ETH, valued at almost $737 million on December 23, to just 14.45k ETH, valued at almost $48 million on December 28.
The sharp decline in whale investment signals a potential loss of confidence in the whale’s future profits among major keepers. Such a trend could influence retail investors, who often follow the moves of these experienced market participants.
At the time of writing, Ether (ETH) was up 1% and exchanging hands at $3,413 per coin.
