Today, the price of Ethereum exceeded the level of 2,440 per token, thereby setting a new high for 2023. It is noteworthy that the price of Bitcoin did not support the bullish sentiment, continuing to fluctuate around the USD 43,000 level for the fifth day.

What is the reason for the growth of ETH/USD from a fundamental point of view? There is no obvious trigger in the media, so we can only make assumptions:

→ market participants considered ETH an undervalued asset against the backdrop of the growth of Bitcoin and Solana;

→ perhaps buyers assume that after the expected approval of applications for the BTC ETF, the ETH ETF story will be next?

→ Santa's rally and the positive sentiment associated with it.

From a technical point of view, the price of ETH/USD moved up beyond the balance period “B”, where the forces of supply and demand were balanced. The bullish momentum was maintained, with upward momentum above the 2,333 level attracting followers and forcing short sellers to take losses. According to on-chain analytical platforms, in just one hour, at the peak of growth, USD 14 million of bearish positions were liquidated on cryptocurrency exchanges—there was a short squeeze in the market to some extent.

What's next? Will the price be able to form a new balance period “C”, which will be above the period “B” (similar to the trend “A” → “B”)?

This morning, on the 4-hour chart, a bearish engulfing pattern is forming, which may result in a false breakout of the previous top on December 9, when the SHS pattern was formed — this is not a very optimistic development of events.

However, as long as the price remains above the level of 2,333, there is reason to believe that the market is on the way to forming a balance “C”, which is above the balance “B” - similar to what happened with the level of 2,110. A bearish breakdown of the level of 2,333 and a return to the zone balance “B” will mean an alarming signal: buyers have lost strength, and therefore the next breakdown of balance “B” may occur in a downward direction.

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