Analysis: Three key factors drive ETH price to new yearly high

ETH prices recently hit a new yearly high, and three key factors appear to be its catalysts: DeFi soaring to new highs, Ethereum 2.0, and rising options and spot demand.

John Todaro, head of research at TradeBlock, said that in the long run, the growth of DeFi will push up the price of ETH. The recent DeFi craze has also driven other sub-markets on the Ethereum network. Anthony Sassano, head of marketing at Set Protocol, said that weekly DEX trading volume has increased to $1.5 billion.

Therefore, in various indicators, other major Ethereum markets have begun to hit record highs. In the past year, the total value of assets locked in DeFi protocols has increased from US$500 million to US$3.4 billion. "Just two days ago, DeFi locked $3 billion, which means that $400 million has entered the system since then. And DeFi took about 18 months to go from $0 to $400 million!" On July 24, Deribit said that ETH options trading volume and open interest hit a record high.

Deribit's open interest accounts for 93% of the Ethereum options market. Santiment researchers pointed out that ETH has room for further growth relative to the performance of altcoins such as LINK. In the long run, Ethereum 2.0 can become a new catalyst, especially in the fourth quarter. As previously reported, Ethereum multi-client testnet Medalla will be launched at 21:00 on August 4. (Cointelegraph)