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

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.

A highly revered crypto strategist, Michaël van de Poppe, has listed some crypto assets that might likely overtake XRP as Polkadot did.

What you should know

Recently, via his Twitter handle, Michaël revealed the cryptos expected to surpass XRP.

“Polkadot takes over spot 4 over XRP by market capitalization. Just a matter of time before Cardano, Chainlink, and Litecoin surpass XRP too.”

READ: LINK, most profitable crypto-asset in 6 months, gains 451%

#Polkadot takes over spot 4 over #XRP by market capitalization.

Just a matter of time before #Cardano, #Chainlink and #Litecoin surpass #XRP too.

— Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) January 16, 2021

READ: Cryptos having better technology than Bitcoin

Michaël van de Poppe gave key insights on Chainlink’s recent price action, and its will to ascent to a new all-time high.

• “Lower timeframe levels, level around $18 is interesting for an entry and then you can see we’ve got one [at $16] and one [at $14], which is confluent with the daily timeframe.”
• Chainlink is a blockchain that is designed to bridge the space between blockchain technology-based smart contracts (created by ETH), and other user programs.
• Since blockchains by principle can’t have access to data outside their paths or networks, a Defi instrument is needed to facilitate data feeds in smart contracts, and Chainlink helps to solve such needs.

READ: XRP in deep crisis, drops 21%

The crypto expert further disclosed that it was only a matter of time before smart a contract platform like Cardano (ADA), decentralized oracle network Chainlink (LINK), and global payment network, Litecoin (LTC), outmatched XRP from the fifth spot of the largest coins by market value.

• Cardano is a type of blockchain that permits people to receive and send funds.
• ADA coin is the name of the cryptocurrency.
• It uses the Cardano blockchain and also allows people to design smart contracts just like Ethereum.
• Litecoin is a P2P crypto that allows instant, near-zero cost fees to anyone around the globe. It is open-source in principle, as its global payment network is fully decentralized without any central authority.