Ethereum was down by 3.22% on Friday. Reversing a 1.75% rally from Thursday, ETH wrapped up trading at $1,767.79.
The second-biggest digital asset in the world has still managed to climb more than 20% in the last seven days.
A mixed start to Friday’s trading saw ETH soar to an early morning peak of $1,841.96 before shifting on the reverse.
Unable to reach the first major resistance level at $1,874, ETH moved back to an early afternoon intraday low of $1,721.15.
ETH would need to lift itself through the pivot level at $1,777 to support a rally at the first major resistance level at $1,833.
Key support from the broader market would be required, however, for ETH to breach back through to $1,800 levels.
The cryptocurrency now has a market valuation of more than $204 billion.
Ethereum value rising
Anonymous Ethereum whales are hoarding the token in massive amounts, from top crypto exchanges to electronic wallets.
Ethereum is second to Bitcoin in terms of market value, but its price has ballooned even more quickly this year, advancing 145% versus 97% for Bitcoin.
ETH has been in consolidation mode in the past few hours, trading at $1,805, or around 40% above its lowest level last week and 11% below its all-time high.
Ethereum has traded below $2,000 since February 20, and its ongoing internal conflicts are undermining the mainstream investors’ aspiration to see the token trade at new highs.
Meanwhile, a planned upgrade to the Ethereum blockchain that will eliminate ether tokens could mean ethereum becomes more “stable” compared to bitcoin, ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said.
Ethereum EIP-1559 upgrade
Ethereum’s upcoming upgrade, called the EIP-1559, will see the network’s current transaction-fee system overhauled, with users sending a fee to the network itself instead of crypto miners that maintain the network, Forbes reported.
The upgrade to the ethereum network was approved by developers last week and expected to be launch in July. The upgrade is expected to significantly cut the supply of the token.
While most miners seemed to agree with ethereum’s planned upgrade, some have voiced their opposition to it, saying it will deal a heavy blow on their profitability.
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