With a 47% increase since the beginning of the year, will ETH become this year's dark horse?

Since the beginning of 2020, the price of Bitcoin has risen sharply by nearly 30% due to the halving effect. At the same time, the second largest currency by market value has also soared by more than 47%, which seems to have set off a wave of optimism.

It’s worth noting that price isn’t the only metric that has seen significant growth for Ethereum this year.

Year-to-date, average ETH transaction size increased by 122%, and the number of large transactions increased by 169%.

According to IntoTheBlock data, the average transaction size on the Ethereum network has increased by more than 122% since the beginning of the year. The following chart shows the average transaction size of the Ethereum network from January 1, 2020 to February 2, 2020.

Although Bitcoin’s average transaction size has also increased (+73%), it is nowhere near as large as Ethereum’s. The chart below shows the average transaction size of the Bitcoin network from January 1, 2020 to February 2, 2020.

In addition, the number of large transactions on the Ethereum network also increased from 130 on January 1 to 350 on February 2, an increase of 169%.

The chart below shows the number of large transactions on the Ethereum network from January 1, 2020 to February 2, 2020.

Of course, the sharp rise in ETH prices may make the performance of these indicators unsurprising. However, it is worth noting that Ethereum derivatives trading performance is also very eye-catching.

Ethereum derivatives trading performed well

Skew data shows that daily trading volume of Ethereum futures saw a sharp increase in mid-January.

In addition, the cumulative open interest of Ethereum futures has also seen a steady increase since the beginning of the year. The following chart shows the aggregate open interest of Ethereum futures.

How will ETH perform in the future?

As for the future trend of ETH, cryptocurrency analyst Crypto Einstein pointed out that Ethereum closed above $168 in the past week (a key level for asset flow). He added that this is the first time in nearly two years that Ethereum has closed positive for six consecutive weeks (Xiaocong Note: calculated here according to local time), and he tends to believe that the bull market of Ethereum has been confirmed.

fxstreet analyst Ken Chigbo said bulls must break out and close above the weekly resistance at $195 to sustain more upside pressure.

ETH/USD daily chart

Trader Josh Olszewicz noted that Ethereum could rally to $555 this year due to bullish technicals.

Cryptocurrency trader Alex Dovbnya noted that while everyone is hyped about the upcoming Bitcoin halving, Ethereum may end up being the dark horse of 2020.

The u.today article stated that although some people may think that ETH may lead a new bull market, they seem to have forgotten that in February last year, the price of ETH soared 56% in less than a month, but still recorded a loss at the end of the year.

Reference article: https://cryptoslate.com/eth-has-been-outperforming-btc-this-year-in-terms-of-growth/.