Ether Surges Past $4,500 for the First Time in Years
Ether kept climbing on Tuesday, August 12, pushing past $4,500—a level it hadn’t touched in over three years. At one point, it hit $4,638, according to Coinbase data. That’s a jump of nearly 40% since early August, when it was hovering around $3,375.
So, what’s driving the rally? Analysts point to a mix of things. Joe DiPasquale from BitBull Capital mentioned renewed investor interest, a decent economic backdrop, and rumors about spot ETFs getting approved. Brian Huang of Glider added that big players—like corporate treasuries—have been scooping up more ETH lately, which suggests they’re in it for the long haul.
Then there’s the ETF angle. Funds tied to ether have seen record inflows, meaning traditional investors might be betting on even bigger gains. Plus, with companies like Stripe and Circle rolling out Ethereum-compatible tech, it’s reinforcing the idea that ETH isn’t going anywhere as a backbone for Web3.
Momentum Takes Over
Once ether broke through key resistance levels, traders piled in, pushing prices even higher. Tim Enneking from Psalion called it a “momentum trade,” where people buy just because the price is rising, not necessarily because of any big news.
But here’s the thing—ether’s still playing catch-up to bitcoin. Bitcoin’s been hitting new highs this cycle, while ETH hasn’t topped its 2021 peak yet. Julio Moreno from CryptoQuant noted that traders seem to prefer ether right now, with ETF holdings and trading volume for ETH growing faster than bitcoin’s.
Sentiment Shifts
Daniel Polotsky, founder of CoinFlip, thinks part of the surge comes from investors being too pessimistic earlier this year. Back in June, he’d argued that concerns about Ethereum’s high fees and scaling issues were overblown—and that ETH was undervalued.
Turns out, he might’ve been right. The ETH/BTC ratio hit a low not seen since 2019, which Polotsky saw as a sign that sentiment had gotten too negative. Now, with ether’s price rebounding hard, it looks like the market’s correcting itself.
Of course, none of this means the rally will last forever. But for now, ether’s got momentum, institutional interest, and a shift in trader psychology working in its favor. Whether it can keep climbing—or even challenge bitcoin’s dominance—remains to be seen.
