Ethereum is firm. When writing, the coin continues to edge higher, rejecting attempts for lower lows. Even so, breaking $4,000 is proving to be hard. Over the weekend, prices were mostly in a tight trading range below the elusive psychological level, evident in the daily chart.

ETH is steady on the last trading day, and up 13% on the previous week. Despite the rejection of $4,000, momentum is building up in lower time frames. The average trading volume in the past day is around $18.5 billion, up 42%. With rising trading volume, ETH controls 17.8% of all the crypto market valuation. So far, the coin has a market cap of $471 billion, down roughly 0.55% in the last trading day.

As traders aim for $4,000, the following will likely shape Ethereum in the medium term:

• Rising gas fees: Ethereum is a legacy chain struggling with scalability. Ahead of Dencun, gas fees have been increasing. Rising gas fees will impact user experience and route activity to other chains or layer-2 platforms like Arbitrum or Optimism.
• Adoption of spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs): Beyond the United States, there are plans for similar products launching in Hong Kong. Local media reports reveal that ten financial institutions plan to launch spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs in the city-state.

Ethereum Price Analysis

ETH/USD bulls are in control.

$4,000 remains a strong resistance and psychological level. If broken, buyers can quickly retest all-time high of around $5,000.

Bars are banding along the upper BB, pointing to solid upside momentum.

In the 1 HR chart, traders can watch how prices react at around $3,970. There are higher highs printing with rising volume. Any expansion above last week’s high might see more capital flowing in.

Conversely, losses below $3,800 might trigger a sell-off toward $3,700 and $3,500.