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The price of Ether (ETH), the cryptocurrency that powers the smart-contract-enabled layer-1 Ethereum blockchain protocol, has been pushing higher amid a favorable macro backdrop and as investors start looking ahead to the major upcoming “Dencun” upgrade that will add new data storage capacity to the network.

ETH hit new highs for the year on Thursday in the $2,440s before pulling back below $2,400 once again, taking its gains in the past 24 hours to around 3.5%, in the past seven days to over 6.5% and in the last 30 days to over 17%, as per CoinMarketCap.

US stocks continued pushing higher on Thursday, with the S&P 500 crawling to within 1% of the record highs it printed in early 2022 above 4,800 as US yields and the US Dollar Index (DXY) continue to slide amid bets that the Fed will soon start lowering interest rates.

Expectations of easier financial and liquidity conditions ahead have been a major tailwind for crypto in recent months and look set to offer ETH continued support.

ETH volatility could pick up significantly on Friday, a day when a whopping $3.36 billion in ETH options expire as per data presented by The Block, the largest quarterly expiry on record.

But otherwise, focus is likely to remain on upcoming ETH-relevant themes, such as the positive macro backdrop, the upcoming Dencun upgrade, and growing anticipation that spot Ethereum ETF approvals are coming in 2024.

Dencun Upgrade Approaches in January

Ethereum developers are gearing up to implement the so-called “Dencun” upgrade that will enable a new blockchain feature called proto-danksharding that is expected to reduce fees for layer-2 scaling protocols and help scale the blockchain by increasing space for data.

As per a note published on Ethereum’s GitHub repository, the new upgrade will begin testing on Ethereum’s Goerli testnet on the 17th of January, before going live on the Sepolia testnet on the 30th of January and then the Holesky testnet on the 7th of February.

A date for the Dencun upgrade to go live on Ethereum’s mainnet has not yet been announced, but all going well, could presumably be as soon as February.

Price Prediction – Can Ether (ETH) Reach $4,000?

Despite Ether’s year-to-date gains currently sitting in the region of 100%, positive macro, network (i.e. near-term upgrades) and adoption (anticipation for spot Ethereum ETFs) fundamentals suggest risks to the ETH price remain tilted to the upside in the short, medium and longer-term.

Technicals further add to the bullish picture.

ETH has found strong support at the key long-term $2,150 level on multiple occasions in recent weeks whilst also holding to the north of its 21 and 50DMAs, suggestive that the bulls remain in control of the market.

Bulls are likely to target a quick move higher towards the key long-term $3,600 area, which marks the April 2022 peak.

That could mean swift near-term gains of as much as 50% for Ether, taking its recovery back from its 2022 lows to more than 4x.

Once Ether is able to hit the mid-$3,000s, its assumed that the broader crypto market would be in the throws of a more aggressive bull market and a retest of all-time highs which are close to $5,000 would be increasingly likely.

Ether could easily rally above $4,000 in 2024.

ETH Alternative to Consider – Meme Kombat ($MK)

While Ether could offer good upside prospects for the months ahead, traders should always look to diversify their crypto holdings.

For those with a strong risk tolerance, investing in promising up-and-coming web3 project by buying into their token presales is one good way to generate potential quick exponential gains.

Cryptonews.com spends a lot of time analyzing which presales have potential, and one such project that they are big fans of is an exciting new project called Meme Kombat.

Meme Kombat blends together the world of crypto gaming and gambling with its exciting platform where users are able to bet on the outcomes of exciting battles between characters based on some of the crypto world’s most popular meme coins.

Early $MK investors can also benefit from generous staking rewards, which are currently more than 100% annually.

The project has already raised close to $5 million, despite launching just weeks ago.

Visit Meme Kombat Here

Disclaimer: Crypto is a high-risk asset class. This article is provided for informational purposes and does not constitute investment advice. You could lose all of your capital.

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