19 Jul 2022
Increased risk appetite? ETHBTC recovers to May levels
Ethereum has seen a sharp recovery over the weekend, leading the ETHBTC pair to climb to 0.07, levels not seen since mid-May.
The crypto market has seen a strong recovery over the weekend, with Ethereum’s performance being particularly impressive, leading the ETHBTC pair to surge from 0.053 on July 12th to 0.7 on July 19th. ETH’s newfound strength might be related to increased risk appetite in the market, evident by sharp altcoin recoveries across the board as the bitcoin dominance plunges to its lowest level since May 13th.On Thursday, July 14th, the Ethereum Foundation member Tim Beiko suggested Sept 19th as the tentative launch date for the merge. This might have benefited ETH, leading to last week’s surge. Following the announcement, Lido’s staked ETH token has neared ETH parity. In addition to the merge and increased risk appetite, structural effects might have also contributed to lifting Ether. Last week, Celsius repaid its DeFi loans. This contributed to reducing the downward gravitational pull enforced by potential liquidations and contagion-related uncertainty. Contagion seems to be resolving now, with prices stabilizing. This recovery may be viewed as a healthy confirmation of the market normalizing as market stress settles down.