Ether Rises Above $3K Mark Thanks To Upcoming Migration To Proof Of Stake

Top coin Ethereum crossed the $3k mark Thursday, after staying most of the last 30 days under that resistance level, ahead of the upcoming migration from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake network.

ETH was trading at $3040, 3.35% higher, as of 4.09 a.m. ET, CoinMarketCap data showed.

"Traders eye a looming upgrade that many think could turbocharge the coin," Billy Bambrough wrote on Forbes.

"Markets may realize in the next several months that Ethereum is on course to become a global asset as adoption hits escape velocity, as the proof-of-stake transition transforms cash flows to real-income generation, and as environmental concerns ease," Bambrough quoted Jamie Douglas Coutts, Bloomberg Intelligence senior market structure analyst, in the article.

Ethereum blockchain is expected to go through a transition from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake in the next couple of months. The ETH 2.0 'Merge' upgrade will cut transaction fees, increase coins 'burned' and improve congestion, co-founder Vitalik Buterin confirmed.

As per WazirX's analysis, Ethereum has been consistently outperforming Bitcoin for the past few days.

Crypto analysts and enthusiasts on Twitter are also excited about the upward movement.

Michaël van de Poppe, a crypto analyst, said, "#Ethereum moving upwards after holding crucial level. Seems to me that we're going to test $3,125 next."

Chartpunk said, "#Ethereum has been in an uptrend for 10 days now. Do not FOMO into the market. Should you want to join the trend, look for the retest of the entry zone on this chart. $ETH"

In another update, Ethereum layer2 based decentralised exchange Loopring(LRC) gained over 40% in the last 24 hours as the beta version of GameStop’s NFT marketplace goes live on Loopring.

The WazirX analysis noted that the token became the top performer outperforming Bitcoin, gaining over 40% in the last 24 hours as the beta version of GameStop’s NFT marketplace goes live on Loopring.