By Senad Karaahmetovic
Ethereum price may face further selling pressure heading into the Merge “as investors digest Merge implications and shift to a wait-and-see approach regarding future upgrades,” a Bank of America strategist.
“We expect blockchains like BSC, Tron, Avalanche and Solana to increasingly capture market share until Ethereum’s current headwinds are addressed,” the analyst said.
On the other hand, Bitcoin price is trading below the $20,000 mark again after three consecutive days of strong selling activity.
The world’s largest digital asset closed over 9% lower last week after the selloff was fueled by hawkish comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Friday.
Although Bitcoin price is up about 1.5% today, despite futures extending selloff, the digital asset is struggling to return trading above the $20,000 handle. The analyst notes “uncertainty” as buying momentum fades.
“Our view is that risks related to a mild recession are likely discounted, but the potential for a hard recession (our macro colleagues expect S&P EPS to fall in 2023 and question the excitement around 8.5% inflation) may result in another risk asset correction including crypto/digital assets,” the analyst wrote in a client note.
The strategist notes that BTC exchange net outflows accelerated over the last 2 weeks “significantly” compared to the prior 3 weeks.
“Supply remains tight and continuous exchange net outflows indicate that investors continue to HODL (bullish). ETH saw its 3rd consecutive week of decelerating exchange net outflows,” the analyst added.