The crypto market is seeing an uptick in sentiment as two of the world's largest cryptocurrencies post solid gains, with Ethereum up more than 26% and Bitcoin 6% in the last seven days.
Ethereum's jump coincided with some clarity around the upcoming merge. The merge will see Ethereum transition to the more energy-efficient proof-of-stake protocol from the energy-intensive proof-of-work protocol, which Bitcoin also uses. The energy consumption post-Merge will drop by 99.5%, and the issuance of new ETH tokens will be cut by about 90%, with many analysts projecting the price of Ethereum to surge. The big news that preceded that rally was Ethereum developer Tim Beiko estimating the Merge to take place on September 19. That date was shared by Beiko during the Ethereum developers' call on Thursday. Following the news, Ethereum began to climb. Analysis of Ethereum price action pointed to "whales" — large investors — buying up the token ahead of the merge. Bitcoin is also seeing a relief rally as prices climb to above $22,000, up nearly 5% in the last 24 hours.
The fact that the rally comes after another surprising inflation data out of the US, with the CPI at 9.1% in June instead of the estimated 8.8%, could be a sign that a price bottom is in place for crypto.
However, more sideways price action is still very likely, according to Scott Melker, independent market analyst and the host of The Wolf Of All Streets podcast."We are a long way from breaking the bearish market structure and making a higher high. Weekly volume was unimpressive last week, so we will see what this week has in store for us," he said.Other cryptocurrencies also recovered, with Polygon up by 24% on the day and 64% during the last seven days. Solana was up by nearly 7% on the day, and Cardano added 9% on the day.
