The world’s utility crypto is fired up on all cylinders on the basis it just ascended to a new yearly high after breaking its previous high seen in early January.

The leading altcoin was trading at $1,377 thus within striking distance of $1,400.

At the time of drafting this report, Ethereum traded at $1,377.06 with a daily trading volume of $35.3 billion. Ethereum is up 13.13% for the day.

What you should know: Ethereum is a cryptocurrency designed for decentralized applications and deployment of smart contracts, which are created and operated without any fraud, interruption, control or interference from a third party.

• Ethereum 2.0 is an upgrade to the Ethereum network that helps in improving the network’s scalability.
  Through the implementation of several, efficiency, enhancements, scalability, and speed the Ethereum network becomes better without compromising its decentralization and security.

What this means: Key reasons attributed to the remarkable rise of Ethereum include the rise of many #DeFi projects running on the #Ethereum network as seen in 2020, #Ethereum flipped Bitcoin in terms of network fees.

• Users spent almost $600M in fees on the Ethereum network last year – 83% more than on Bitcoin.

In 2020, #Ethereum flipped #Bitcoin in terms of network fees.

Users spent almost $600M in fees on the Ethereum network last year – 83% more than on Bitcoin.

Data: @glassnode pic.twitter.com/SMSHbkFHuC

— Rafael Schultze-Kraft (@n3ocortex) January 9, 2021

Oil prices were mixed at the second trading session of the week. Oil traders are cautiously optimistic that further COVID-19 stimulus programs will buoy economic growth against the increasing COVID-19-induced lockdowns sighted in key international markets.

What you should know

At press time, Brent oil crude futures gained 0.40% to trade at $54.95, while West Texas Intermediate futures dropped by 0.23% to trade at $52.30 a barrel. There was no oil settlement transaction on Monday at the world’s largest economy, due to public holiday.

• Both global oil benchmarks remained above the $50 mark.
• In addition, oil traders are treading cautiously on reports that the third-largest crude oil importer, India, recorded poor fuel sales in 2020, as well as rising numbers of COVID-19 cases in Japan and China.

What they are saying

Stephen Innes, Chief Global Market Strategist at Axi, in a note to Nairametrics, dropped valuable points as regards macros weighing the black liquid hydrocarbon, taking to account the U.S dollar recorded losses at Tuesday trading session, thereby arbitrarily supporting crude oil prices.

• “Many COVID-19 jitters out here, but oil prices continue to hold and looks to nudge higher eyeing support from the weaker US dollar as oil sensitive currencies are showing the way. The US data has been less encouraging lately. However, yesterday’s Q4 China GDP data provided a festive reminder that China’s economy continues to fire on all cylinders and brought with it dip-buying support.
• “Overall, the policy mixes between OPEC+ current supply discipline coalescing with the Biden’s administration’s overarching focus on public health and economic responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, suggest oil prices can go much higher.”

What to expect

Oil traders anticipate that oil prices will stabilize near the current level, as progress is made on the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out. As the black liquid hydrocarbon moves closer on the path to a typical demand environment, oil prices will then soar.

The number of investors owning at least 1,000 BTC is growing at a record pace. Data retrieved from Glassnode show that the number of addresses holding at least 1000 BTC has skyrocketed lately.

• The growth from January to December last year: 6.7%
• The growth from December until today: 7.2%

Institutional buying?🏦

The number of addresses holding at least 1000 BTC has skyrocketed lately.

The growth from January to December last year: 6.7%
The growth from December until today: 7.2%

Read more in our weekly report tomorrow: https://t.co/xlQH8LeQyH

Data: @glassnode pic.twitter.com/Gkn6dxH5Cd

— Arcane Research (@ArcaneResearch) January 18, 2021

On the chart pattern, the number of addresses owning such amount of cryptos was about 2,450.

What this means

Large crypto entities could be envisaging a strong medium to long-term Bitcoin price trend, and are choosing to hold on to BTC in expectation of a bull market.

• Much of the recent increase can be attributed to wealthy entities withdrawing their BTC from the exchange. Apparently, this is not new wealth – rather, it represents a change in the way Bitcoin whales are choosing to hold their coins.
• At the time of drafting this report, Bitcoin traded at $36,534.77 with a daily trading volume of $53.2 Billion. Bitcoin is up 4.20% for the day.

In addition, another key point helping Bitcoin prices to remain supported between the $34,000-$37,000 price levels in recent days, is that a significant amount of long-term investors in Bitcoin are not nervous amid the prevailing volatility in play as revealed by Glassnode.

Bitcoin reserve risk is still very low. This means that there is high confidence in long-term HODLers relative to the current price. In red, the price is high and the confidence is low. Yes, a $37k Bitcoin is…cheap.

#Bitcoin reserve risk is still very low. This means that there is high confidence of long-term HODLers relative to the current price.

In the red, the price is high and the confidence is low. Yes, a $37k #Bitcoin is…cheap.

Source: @glassnode pic.twitter.com/uE2jW62aGx

— Jared Hornmatter (@jaredhornmatter) January 18, 2021

Bottom Line

Nairametrics is of the opinion that the increased buying pressures by such crypto investors are significantly responsible for Bitcoin staying supported above $35,000.