Ethereum’s price fell to a 12-month low of $228.8 today, falling below the $255.05 of Sept. 17, 2017, fulfilling expectations of those who have predicted a weakening of support that ICOs have bestowed on the second largest cryptocurrency since early last year.
Ethereum’s price has been on a roller coaster since it began climbing above the $20 range in March of 2017. The price reached $1,377.72 on Jan. 13, 2018, according to Coinmarketcap.com, riding the cryptocurrency market growth at the time. Some analysts credited a surge to ICOs on the Ethereum blockchain.
After January, the price fell, hitting $386.59 on April 7, 2018, then rose to $830.02 on May 5 before falling to its current low. The price began the current year in the upper $200 range, reaching $283.29 on Sept. 10, 2017.
Mid-August Rally Unsustained
On Aug. 16, Ethereum moved from $250 to $280 following a 20% drop on Aug. 14 as the crypto market posted a recovery from bitcoin’s drop below the $6,000 mark on Aug. 14. That corrective rally did not continue, however.
The mid-August rally occurred in tandem with $120 million worth of tether tokens, signaling an influx of capital.
Price Fall Wipes Out Market Share Gains
Ethereum’s recent fall has wiped out most of the gains it made in its share of the cryptocurrency market resulting from bitcoin’s decline this year. On June 19, 2018, Ethereum accounted for its largest share ever of the total cryptocurrency market, holding 30.63% of the market to bitcoin’s 37.82%, according to coinmarketcap.com. As of Sept. 5, Ethereum’s share had fallen to 11.48% to bitcoin’s 54.99%.
Arthur Hayes, CEO of BitMEX, postulated in mid-August that Ethereum’s price was being supported by the ICOs that occurred starting in early 2017. Hayes said the ICO investments come from VCs that will dump their Ether in response to the bear market. He predicted Ethereum will fall below $100.
Others analysts have also predicted ICO startups will sell off their Ether.
Crypo Market Struggles
Meanwhile, the overall market struggles, as bitcoin suffered one of its worst days since February, losing over $38 billion in market capitalization.
Will Woo, an analyst who since May of this year expected bitcoin to fall below the $6,000 mark, predicted another market decline before its next rally. He said bitcoin will test $6,000 in the near term, even if it the market rebounds in the meantime.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
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