ETH Bulls to Target $2,150 on Favorable SEC v Ripple Ruling

Key Insights:

• ETH joined the broader market in positive territory on Thursday, rallying 7.16% to end the day at $2,006.
• Court rulings from the ongoing SEC v Ripple case supported an ETH return to $2,000.
• The technical indicators remained bullish, signaling a return to $2,050.

Ethereum (ETH) rallied 7.16% on Thursday. Reversing a 0.37% fall from Wednesday, ETH ended the day at $2,006. ETH held onto the $2,000 handle for the first time since April 2023.

Ethereum Price Action

This morning, ETH was up 0.23% to $2,011. A range-bound start to the day saw ETH fall to an early low of $2,005 before rising to a high of $2,028.

Daily Chart

The Daily Chart showed ETH/USD sitting below the lower level of the $2,075 – $2,105 resistance band.

However, ETH/USD currently sits above the 50-day ($1,866) and 200-day ($1,765) EMAs, signaling bullish momentum over the near and long term.

Notably, the 50-day EMA widened further from the 200-day EMA and reflected bullish momentum.

Looking at the 14-Daily RSI, the 65.83 reading signaled a bullish outlook, aligned with the 50-day and 200-day EMAs. Significantly, the RSI supports a breakout from the $2,075 – $2,105 resistance band to target $2,200.

4-Hourly Chart

Looking at the 4-Hourly Chart, the ETH/USD faces strong resistance at the $2,100 psychological level. ETH/USD sits below the $2,075 – $2,105 resistance band. However, ETH remains above the 50-day ($1,897) and 200-day ($1,869) EMAs, sending bullish near and longer-term signals.

Significantly, the 50-day EMA pulled away from the 200-day EMA, signaling a move through the $2,075 – $2,105 resistance band to target $2,200.

However, a return to sub-$2,000 would bring sub-$1,950 and the 50-day EMA ($1,896) into view.

The 14-4H RSI reading of 81.20 indicates ETH sitting in overbought territory, with buying pressure outweighing selling pressure. Significantly, the bullish RSI aligns with the 50-day EMA and supports a return to $2,100.

Staking Statistics Turned Bullish

According to CryptoQuant, staking inflows surged from 77,472 ETH on Wednesday to 125,860 on Thursday. Significantly, staking inflows reached the highest level since June 22.

The overnight withdrawal profile was relatively bearish, with principal withdrawals spiking to above-normal levels. However, withdrawal projections for the morning session are bullish. Projections show ETH withdrawal levels will sit at normal withdrawal levels for most of the morning session.

On Thursday, the net ETH staking balance stood at a 19,200 ETH surplus ($36.16 million), down 65% over 24 hours. Deposits totaled 79,630 versus withdrawals of 60,430 ETH.

According to TokenUnlocks, total pending withdrawals stood at 23,290 ETH, equivalent to approximately $46.79 million. Notably, the staking APR stood at 5.55%, down 0.18% over 24 hours. While the downward trend in the staking APR is ETH price negative, the decline in pending withdrawals is positive.

SEC v Ripple Court Ruling Sends ETH to $2,000

US economic indicators and investor sentiment toward Fed monetary policy plans took a back seat on Thursday.

Judge Analisa Torres, the presiding judge in the SEC v Ripple case, caught the markets by surprise, delivering rulings on the Parties’ Motions for Summary Judgment.

Significantly, Judge Torres ruled that XRP did not satisfy the third prong of the Howey Test vis-à-vis Programmatic Sales of XRP.

Judge Torres noted that Ripple sold XRP on digital asset exchanges programmatically or through trading algos (the “Programmatic Sales”). Judge Torres added that the sales on digital asset exchanges were blind bid/ask transactions. Ripple did not know who was buying the XRP, and the purchasers did not know who was selling it.

The ruling went on to say,

“Indeed, Ripple’s Programmatic Sales were blind/bid ask transactions, and Programmatic Buyers could not have known if their payments of money went to Ripple or any other seller of XRP. Since 2017, Ripple’s Programmatic Sales represented less than 1% of the global XRP trading volume. Therefore, the vast majority of individuals who purchased XRP from digital asset exchanges did not invest their money in Ripple at all.”

The Court rulings gave investors hope of a shift in the SEC’s bid to regulate the US digital asset space and force US lawmakers to deliver appropriate legislation and oversight.

Considering the recent comments from the SEC Chair, calling ETH a security, we expect continued ETH price sensitivity to regulatory chatter.

The Day Ahead

US economic indicators and Fed chatter will likely play second fiddle to the crypto news wires today.

Updates from the SEC and Ripple on the Court rulings will draw plenty of interest. Hints of an SEC plan to appeal the Court ruling would likely weigh on ETH and the broader market.

However, beyond the SEC v Ripple case and the staking statistics, investors should track ETF chatter, with Binance and US lawmaker crypto chatter also focal points.