Altcoin price action has been the talk of the town for the past 2 weeks — and for skilful reason. Since the start of 2022, altcoins like Icon (ICX), AION and WanChain (WAN) have surged more than 200%, 120% and threescore% respectively, leading some analysts to advise that a new altcoin season has begun.

Crypto market daily price chart. Source: Coin360

At present, Ether (ETH) appears to have joined the party, and since the altcoin dropped to $115.95 on December. eighteen, 2022, it has quietly rallied ninety% to accomplish a 2022 high at $220.81 on February. half dozen.

Equally the crypto market rallied, the corporeality of Ether and locked-in decentralized finance platforms has also risen. In fact, recently released data from data provider DeFi Pulse revealed that the total value of assets locked in DeFi platforms has risen to $one.01 billion.

Currently, 3.135 1000000 Ether are locked up in DeFi platforms, a slight decline from the Feb. ii figure of 3.195 1000000.

Total Value Locked (USD) in DeFi. Source: DeFi Pulse

Since 2022, the value of assets locked upward in the DeFi ecosystem has risen from $240 meg to $1.01 billion, and analysts believe that the growth in popularity and number of assets staked across DeFi platforms volition increase need for Ether and support a steady rising in the altcoin'due south price.

Miners are accumulating Ether

Another bullish indicate for Ether is the growth in the number of miners holding Ether. Maksim Balashevich, the founder of on-chain analytics information provider Santiment, recently broke the phenomenon downwardly by explaining that:

"Across the entire Ethereum miner ecosystem, the last three months were marked past stable and undisrupted accumulation."

ETH Miner Balances Over Time. Source: Santiment.cyberspace

Co-ordinate to Balashevich, the full rest of all Ether mining pools currently stands well-nigh an best loftier of 1.69 meg Ether ($300 meg) and the current accumulation period leads Balashevich to believe that in that location are "high confidence levels in the project amidst the majority of block creators, at the very to the lowest degree relative to the current market place conditions."

Investors are bullish as ETH 2.0 approaches

The projected July 2022 launch of ETH 2.0 is another bullish factor for Ether's price. During a Feb. 6 "Ask Me Anything" session on Reddit with Ethereum network developers, the ETH 2.0 team explained that the network upgrade will not go alive until three clients tin can safely operate testnets for at to the lowest degree eight weeks.

During the session, ETH 2.0 researcher Justin Drake said, "I have 95% confidence we will launch in 2022." ETH 2.0 will transition the network from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake, and instead of maintaining mining rigs, block validators will be required to stake 32 ETH in order to pale on the network.

The network upgrade could take the early impact of increasing demand for ETH, and it'south possible that miners and investors looking to proceeds a 5% to 18% staking advantage could exist accumulating ETH and in anticipation of the ETH 2.0 launch.

From a technical analysis perspective, Ether's toll has made notable strides by breaking through crucial resistance levels over the past ii weeks.

ETH/USD bankrupt a key long-term resistance

On January. 30, Ether toll finally crossed in a higher place the 200-twenty-four hour period moving average, and a strong resistance at $179. The altcoin has since rallied 27% since then, and many analysts believe the digital asset is at present well-positioned to make a run at $240 conservatively and $300 over the coming months if the crypto market sentiment remains bullish.

ETH/USD daily chart. Source: TradingView

Currently, traders are maintaining purchasing volume, and the three white soldiers candlestick pattern that began on Feb. v suggests farther continuation to the upside but the shorter time frame shows Ether price looking a scrap toppy and losing momentum.

Should Bitcoin cost correct over the coming days, investors could see Ether requite upward some gains and pull back to $200 where the moving average of the Bollinger Band indicator is currently positioned.

ETH/USD six-hr nautical chart. Source: TradingView

Beneath this, the price could drib to $193 where there is back up. The relative strength alphabetize is in the overbought region on the daily time frame and the six-hour time frame shows the indicator beginning to roll over. The same tin can be said for the Moving Boilerplate Convergence Divergence histogram, where the lightening shade of the histogram candles shows a slowdown in buying.

Ultimately, as the Bitcoin toll continues to push college toward $ten,000, Ether's price is probable to follow past moving higher. Traders are encouraged to go along an center on trading book and lookout the RSI and MACD in order to determine whether or not the asset has become "too" overbought.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reverberate the views of Cointelegraph. Every investment and trading motion involves risk. You should conduct your own research when making a determination.