Ethereum Price Forecast: ETH/USD rally seems unstoppable to $555, this is why?

• Ethereum transaction fees lead to the highest miner revenue earned ($500,000) in an hour.
• The Ethereum rally takes a breather at $490 but the uptrend targets $550 in the short term.

Ethereum has for the first time since mid-2018 traded closer to $500 (currently a psychological resistance). The rally has impressively been independent of Bitcoin price as it stalls under $12,000. Ethereum growth is reflective of the surge in the value of DeFi protocols such as Yearn.finance and Band Protocol.

The trading on Tuesday saw ETH bring down several seller strongholds such as $450 and $470. The bulls extended the price action upwards, eying $500 but a barrier at $490 temporarily paused the breakout.

At the time of writing, Ethereum is teetering at $468, following a minor retreat from the highs not seen since July 2018. Support is envisaged above $450 in order to give the bulls time to stage another attack on $500. Further up, the next target after $500 is $550; a prediction that depends on technical levels remaining intact in the short term.

ETH/USD daily chart

The Ethereum network continues to demand higher transaction fees even as the development of ETH 2.0 hits barriers. Glassnode, a cryptocurrency analytics platform reported that miners earned more than $500,000 in transaction fees in just one hour. This was the biggest transaction fee generated revenue in the history of the ETH network (in a period of an hour).

In August alone, the miners earned $113 million in fees. This was an extremely high number compared to April’s $3 million as it represents a 38x growth. The surge in miner fees also dwarfs that recorded at the peak in January 2018.

As a network, Ethereum is healthy as long as the clogging is ignored. Miners continue to dedicate more resources to the network. The ballistic rise in the value of the DeFi ecosystem hints that the growth in the value of Ethereum has only begun. The tip of the iceberg would be the launch of ETH 2.0; which would catapult Ethereum to highs above $1,000.

The ongoing uptrend is supported by the RSI (currently in the oversold) and the MACD (moving higher within the positive region). The bullish divergence above the MACD puts emphasis on the strong bullish grip. Therefore, keeping the price above $450 should not be a problem in the coming sessions.