Ethereum

when

Spot

James

Ether (<a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/ethereum-price" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">ETH</a>) is poised to break its all-time high in the coming days after rising to a new year-to-date high of $4,108 on Dec. 16.
ETH price has gained 8% over the last week. The second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization is up 28% over the last 30 days and 82% over the last year.
Data from <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://subscription.cointelegraph.com/?_gl=1*kjxdso*_ga*MTAxMzE3MDgyMS4xNzA2Nzk5MzMw*_ga_53R24TEEB1*MTcwOTY1NTc1NC4xMTguMS4xNzA5NjU3Njg1LjAuMC4w" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">Cointelegraph Markets Pro</a> and <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://www.tradingview.com/symbols/ETHGBP/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" text="null" title="https://www.tradingview.com/symbols/ETHGBP/">TradingView</a> shows Ether’s price was trading at $4,000, about 18% shy of its all-time high of $4,891 set on Nov. 26, 2021.
<figure>
 <img alt="Ethereum price eyes new all-time highs, but will $15K be the top?" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-12/0193d544-b113-7008-afe0-9c48e7b6d3c3" title="">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 ETH/USD daily chart. Source: Cointelegraph/<a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://www.tradingview.com/x/q0jQSkTG/" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="https://www.tradingview.com/x/q0jQSkTG/">TradingView</a>
 </figcaption>
</figure>
Accompanying ETH’s performance on Dec. 17 is a 30% leap in daily trading volume, currently at $42 billion, which suggests that this rally has momentum. 
But with Ether investment products seeing continuous inflows alongside other fundamental factors and onchain metrics, how high can the price go?
<h2 id="strong-decreasing-eth-supply-on-exchanges-strong">Decreasing ETH supply on exchanges</h2>
One factor supporting Ether’s upside is reducing supply on exchanges. Data from onchain market intelligence firm CryptoQuant shows ETH balances on exchanges reached an 8.5-year low of 9.2 million ETH, down nearly 10% over the last year.
<figure>
 <img alt="Ethereum price eyes new all-time highs, but will $15K be the top?" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-12/0193d545-47a5-7897-9063-d60cd74e1099" title="">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 ETH supply on exchanges. Source: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cryptoquant.com/asset/eth/chart/exchange-flows/exchange-reserve?exchange=all_exchange&amp;window=DAY&amp;sma=0&amp;ema=0&amp;priceScale=log&amp;metricScale=linear&amp;chartStyle=line" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="https://cryptoquant.com/asset/eth/chart/exchange-flows/exchange-reserve?exchange=all_exchange&amp;window=DAY&amp;sma=0&amp;ema=0&amp;priceScale=log&amp;metricScale=linear&amp;chartStyle=line">CryptoQuant</a>
 </figcaption>
</figure>
The net flow to/from exchanges shows a steep decline since October 2023, when withdrawals from the trading platforms began to surge. This drop accompanies a 73% rise in Ether’s price over the same time period.
<h2 id="strong-ethereum-whales-grow-in-number-strong">Ethereum whales grow in number</h2>
The decreasing supply on exchanges could be partially explained by a spike in accumulation by large holders over the last few weeks. 
Notably, whale wallet holdings have reached their highest level ever, <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/104-whale-wallets-hold-57-percent-ethereum-bullish-sign-santiment" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">accounting for about 57%</a> of all ETH in circulation.
“There are currently 104 whale wallets holding at least 100K Ethereum,” collectively holding about $333 billion, Santiment <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://x.com/santimentfeed/status/1868814689657893362" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">said</a> in a Dec. 16 post on X.&nbsp;
Wallets holding between 10 ETH and 100,000 ETH are at a historic low of 33.5%, and <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/explained/crypto-wallets-explained" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">wallets holding</a> less than 100 ETH have a supply ratio of just 9.19%, hitting a near four-year low, the analytics firm added.
<blockquote>
 “Ethereum’s largest 100K+ whale group owns an all-time high 83.81 million tokens, and the asset briefly returns above $4,000 market value.”
</blockquote>
<figure>
 <img alt="Ethereum price eyes new all-time highs, but will $15K be the top?" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-12/0193d546-c8b9-7163-82bb-71ad8f5eaf7b" title="">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 Ethereum supply distribution by tiers. Source: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://x.com/santimentfeed/status/1868814689657893362" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="https://x.com/santimentfeed/status/1868814689657893362">Santiment</a>
 </figcaption>
</figure>
This means that whales have not sold on the latest rally but have continued to accumulate. This may be a long-term bullish indication, especially if this trend continues. 
Meanwhile, the daily average of new Ethereum addresses crossed 130,200 in December, marking an eight-month high, <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://x.com/santimentfeed/status/1867662604010701047/photo/1" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">according</a> to Santiment.
<figure>
 <img alt="Ethereum price eyes new all-time highs, but will $15K be the top?" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-12/0193d547-6f16-7321-9d2b-9bbd1fd95654" title="">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 Source: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://x.com/santimentfeed/status/1867662604010701047" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="https://x.com/santimentfeed/status/1867662604010701047">Santiment</a>
 </figcaption>
</figure>
Also accompanying Ether’s bullish performance was an uptick in total open interest (OI) in the derivatives market, which increased from 9.8 billion ETH on Nov. 5 to an all-time high of 20.7 billion ETH on Dec. 17.
<figure>
 <img alt="Ethereum price eyes new all-time highs, but will $15K be the top?" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-12/0193d547-edc4-7e89-aae3-3df3876102b6" title="">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 ETH open interest on all exchanges. Source: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cryptoquant.com/asset/eth/chart/derivatives/open-interest?exchange=all_exchange&amp;symbol=all_symbol&amp;window=DAY&amp;sma=0&amp;ema=0&amp;priceScale=log&amp;metricScale=linear&amp;chartStyle=line" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="https://cryptoquant.com/asset/eth/chart/derivatives/open-interest?exchange=all_exchange&amp;symbol=all_symbol&amp;window=DAY&amp;sma=0&amp;ema=0&amp;priceScale=log&amp;metricScale=linear&amp;chartStyle=line">CryptoQuant</a>
 </figcaption>
</figure>
The chart above shows that Ether’s OI has jumped 24% in the past seven days, suggesting increased demand for leveraged ETH positions and new money entering the market overall.
<h2 id="strong-institutional-demand-for-ether-products-soars-strong">Institutional demand for Ether products soars</h2>
Meanwhile, United States-based <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/learn/articles/spot-ethereum-etf" rel="" target="_self" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/learn/articles/spot-ethereum-etf">spot Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs)</a> have recorded positive inflows every day since Nov. 22.&nbsp;
Related: &nbsp;<a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/eth-link-aave-and-bgb-move-higher-as-bitcoin-inches-toward-new-all-time-high" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/news/eth-link-aave-and-bgb-move-higher-as-bitcoin-inches-toward-new-all-time-high">ETH, LINK, AAVE and BGB move higher as Bitcoin inches toward new all-time high</a>
The investment products recorded their biggest-ever day of inflows on Dec. 5, registering more than $428 million in inflows. Spot Ether ETFs saw cumulative inflows of $854.8 million during the week ending Dec. 13.
<figure>
 <img alt="Ethereum price eyes new all-time highs, but will $15K be the top?" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-12/0193d548-5d3a-77c1-b8be-4d8b43522664" title="">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 Spot Ether ETF flows. Source: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://sosovalue.com/assets/etf/us-eth-spot" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="https://sosovalue.com/assets/etf/us-eth-spot">SoSoValue</a>
 </figcaption>
</figure>
Overall, Ether exchange-traded products (ETPs) have continued gaining momentum, with the new inflows <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-etp-3-2-billion-10-week-inflows-coinshares" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">marking seven consecutive weeks of inflows</a> in various Ether-based ETPs, totaling $3.7 billion. 
Ether ETPs tracked by CoinShares provide exposure to the underlying asset, such as a market index or an individual investment, including spot Ether ETFs.
CoinShares head of research James Butterfill <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://blog.coinshares.com/volume-213-digital-asset-fund-flows-weekly-report-e1fcefd02a53" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" text="null" title="https://blog.coinshares.com/volume-213-digital-asset-fund-flows-weekly-report-e1fcefd02a53">said</a> that this marked a “dramatic improvement” in investor sentiment toward ETH.
<blockquote>
 “Ethereum saw its 7th consecutive week of inflows of US$1bn, with inflows over those 7 weeks totaling US$3.7bn, a dramatic improvement in sentiment.”
</blockquote>
ETH price will likely push toward the November 2021 all-time highs in the coming days if institutional sentiment remains elevated. 
<h2 id="strong-analysts-set-five-digit-targets-for-eth-price-strong">Analysts set five-digit targets for ETH price&nbsp;</h2>
Data from <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://subscription.cointelegraph.com/?_gl=1*7499wx*_ga*MTQ0MzQ0NzI4Ny4xNzE2MzY1NTA0*_ga_53R24TEEB1*MTcxNjM2NTUwNC4xLjEuMTcxNjM2Njg2MC4wLjAuMA.." rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">Cointelegraph Markets Pro</a> and <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://www.tradingview.com/symbols/BTCUSD/?exchange=BINANCE" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" text="null" title="https://www.tradingview.com/symbols/BTCUSD/?exchange=BINANCE">TradingView</a> shows that ETH is fighting to turn the key $4,000 resistance level into new support as a launchpad to new all-time highs. 
“The fight for $4,000 continues,” <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://x.com/CryptoJelleNL/status/1868928877982278075" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" text="null" title="https://x.com/CryptoJelleNL/status/1868928877982278075">said</a> popular crypto analyst Jelle in a Dec. 17 post on X, adding, “Break this, and all bets are off.”
Fellow analyst Venturefounder <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://x.com/venturefounder/status/1863726982896271694" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">said</a> that ETH has been consolidating in a triangle for over three years, which sets the stage for “a new paradigm.”
The analyst referred to the two-week candle chart, which forms part of a seven-year consolidation projecting an Ether price target above $15,000.
<blockquote>
 “Base Case: Ethereum likely to repeat this impulsive breakout it did between 2016-and 2017 to shoot to new ATH. Price target: $15,937 by May 2025”
</blockquote>
<figure>
 <img alt="Ethereum price eyes new all-time highs, but will $15K be the top?" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-12/0193d548-e46e-7882-859a-081a15b1a635" title="">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 ETH/USD 2W chart. Source: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://x.com/venturefounder/status/1863726982896271694" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="https://x.com/venturefounder/status/1863726982896271694">Venturefounder</a>
 </figcaption>
</figure>
MN Capital founder Michaell van de Poppe <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://x.com/CryptoMichNL/status/1868753212599046310" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">said</a>, “We’ll have a comparable cycle to 2017 with a lot of upside,” setting the cycle top for ETH between $15,000 and $25,000.
However, other established crypto market participants are eying more conservative price targets. <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/vaneck-predicts-q1-2025-crypto-correction-q4-all-time-highs" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">VanEck predicted a $6,000</a> cycle top for Ether price and a $180,000 Bitcoin (<a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/bitcoin-price" rel="" target="_self" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/bitcoin-price">BTC</a>) price in 2025. 
Bitwise Asset Management <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://x.com/BitwiseInvest/status/1866490465090195613" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">predicts</a> that Bitcoin, Ether and Solana (<a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/solana-price-index" rel="" target="_self" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/solana-price-index">SOL</a>) will hit $200,000, $7,000, and $750, respectively, in 2025.
This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

Ethereum price eyes new all-time highs, but will $15K be the top?

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