Furthermore, the gains in the ETH prices were bolstered by the news that Ethereum fees have dropped by 35% since last week, though the average ETH gas fee still exceeds $30 per transfer. According to the data, transaction fees on the Ethereum network have decreased by 35% compared to seven days ago. At the time of writing, the average charge to transact with Ethereum was 0.0099 Ether, or $30.85 to $33.04 per transfer. On Wednesday, the cheapest Layer Two (L2) method for transferring Ether was Polygon Hermez, which costs $0.25 per transaction.

Aside from that, Pantera CIO believes Ethereum will see a 50% increase in transactions, which may impact the ETH prices positively. According to Pantera Capital’s Chief Investment Officer, Joey Krug, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency will continue to outperform its rivals. But in the next ten years, he believes the token will be responsible for more than half of all global financial transactions. Even though Vitalik Buterin’s initiative faces increasing competition, this remains the case. In an interview with Bloomberg, Joey Krug spoke about the Ethereum blockchain. He also predicted that the protocol would be a significant player in the global financial system in ten years. Krug predicted that Ethereum’s blockchain would handle more than 50% of all global financial transactions in the next decade.

Meanwhile, the broad-based US dollar remains well bid on the day, as investors prepare for a widely expected interest rate increase in March. Thus, the strength of the US dollar was seen as one of the key factors that kept a lid on any additional gains in ETH/USD. The Federal Reserve will meet next week, and this is expected to provide more clarity and details on the end of quantitative easing, which is expected to happen in March. Furthermore, the Federal Reserve of the United States could potentially suggest that it will hike interest rates in March, shortly after QE is wrapped up.

Meanwhile, the gains in the dollar were bolstered, as statistics indicated that home-building in the United States surged unexpectedly in December, despite exceptionally mild weather. As a result, housing starts increased by 1.4 percent last month, to 1.702 million units, on a seasonally adjusted annual basis.

Ethereum could not settle above $3,200 and continued to fall below the $3,120 support level. ETH even managed to break through the $3,080 barrier and settle below the 100-hourly simple moving average.

A low has developed near $3,050, and the market is currently correcting losses. There was a brief recovery wave above the $3,100 barrier, and the price of Ether has now risen above the 50 percent Fib retracement level of the latest drop, from the upswing to $3,195, to the low of $3,050.

If the price breaks just above the trend line, it may advance to the $3,190 resistance area and the 100 hourly SMA. The next big obstacle is near the $3,200 mark, above which the price of Ether may begin to rise. In the aforementioned scenario, the price could increase to $3,300 in the near future.

The first major support is presently emerging near $3,050. A breach below $3,050 could potentially start a move below $3,000 in the short term. The next big support level for the bulls could be around $2,880. Any further losses might send the price down to $2,750.