Ethereum’s Strong Start to 2024 Sparks Q1 Optimism: Could ETH Reach $3,600?

• Prospects of an Ether spot ETF have set up Ethereum (ETH) as a top altcoin pick for Q1 2024 as it prepares to welcome institutional investors.
• Crypto analyst Michaël van de Poppe predicts that ETH could outperform Bitcoin (BTC) in Q1.

Ethereum (ETH) continues to lead altcoins in the new year both with its performance and its impressive market cap value. The altcoin leader has been a top pick for investors for the past couple of years despite coming under stiff competition from rivals such as Cardano, Solana, and Ripple (XRP). It’s been a clear choice for blockchain developers and users as well as for developing and launching decentralized products such as NFTs, DeFi, and smart contracts. In fact, the Ethereum blockchain has been described as the blockchain for building.

In the new year, Ethereum is set to continue the trend and as crypto analyst Michaël van de Poppe has noted, not only will it be a top pick in Q1 2024, but could outperform Bitcoin (BTC). The analyst acknowledges that both tokens will be heavily influenced by the approval of ETFs which now seem imminent despite numerous delays last year. Sharing his views on the X platform, the analyst stated;

My thesis is that Ethereum is likely going to outperform Bitcoin in the upcoming period and that’s why I want to allocate more towards ETH. Spot Ethereum ETF after the approval of the Bitcoin ETF is one of the examples.

After the filing of Bitcoin spot ETFs by leading financial institutions such as BlackRock, these industry giants turned to Ethereum. Both Fidelity Investments and BlackRock have filed for an Ethereum ETF, a clear indication of their interest and trust in the digital asset. Analysts expect the SEC to approve this approval soon after the approval of a Bitcoin spot ETF which now looks likely by the 10th of this month.

Ethereum (ETH) Set for a Bullish 2024

While the analyst has also predicted a bullish outlook for Chainlink (LINK), Optimism (OP), Arbitrum (ARB), he noted that he is allocating the biggest share of his investment portfolio to ETH at 40%. Supporting this bullish view, the Exponential Moving Average (EMA), a key technical signal shows that it has jumped to 200, a sign it’s undervalued. This technical indicator points to a price rally over the short and long term with the possibility of the altcoin reaching as high as $3,600 in the next breakout.

At the time of press, ETH is trading at $2,360 after a 6% rally in the last 7 days. With a market cap of nearly $285 billion, it is a long way from flipping Bitcoin’s $880 billion cap but is clearly ahead of all altcoins with third-placed Tether holding a value of $92 billion.

In the coming months, it will be interesting to see how high ETH can climb with investors hoping for a retest of its ATH of $4,878 reached two years ago.