Ethereum's native token, Ether (ETH), has encountered a temporary setback in its value, currently trading at around $1,638, marking a slight 7% decrease today. However, this dip should be seen in the context of broader market dynamics and presents potential opportunities for bullish investors.
One key factor influencing Ethereum's price is the recent hawkish stance of the Federal Reserve. On June 15, Ether experienced a 1.7% decline, reaching a three-month low around $1,620. This downward trend aligns with the overall market sentiment, which was further fueled by the Federal Reserve's announcement.
While the U.S. central bank opted to maintain benchmark interest rates unchanged due to a slowdown in inflation, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell made it clear that they plan to raise rates more aggressively than previously expected in 2023. Powell's statement indicated that interest rates would only be increased once there is a significant drop in consumer prices.
Since Powell's announcement, the price of ETH has observed a decrease of approximately 7.5%, reflecting the initial market response to the Federal Reserve's hawkish tone.
In recent times, Ether has demonstrated characteristics of a riskier asset, exhibiting a strong positive correlation with major U.S. stock indexes. This correlation persisted on June 14 and 15, as the price of Ethereum declined alongside the S&P 500, the Nasdaq Composite, and the Dow Jones.
The recent price decline in Ether has triggered liquidations of leveraged long positions, amounting to $54.95 million on June 15, the highest among the top-ranked crypto assets. Furthermore, the open interest in Ether-related contracts decreased from nearly $6 billion on June 14 to $5.69 billion on June 15. These factors suggest that long traders closed their positions by selling ETH, potentially contributing to the temporary downward pressure on its price.
On May 15, Ether experienced a selloff that was magnified by breaching a critical support level, which included multi-month ascending and horizontal trendlines, as well as the 200-day exponential moving average (200-day EMA) around $1,750.
Despite these short-term developments, there are promising signs for Ether to recover a portion of its recent losses in June. The daily relative strength index (RSI) for ETH/USD has dipped below 30, entering the "oversold" territory, typically signaling an imminent rebound or consolidation.
Additionally, when examining longer-term charts, there are indications of a potential recovery for Ether. Notably, the ETH/USD pair is still trading above its 200-week EMA, which has acted as a psychological support level since March 2023, positioned near $1,600.
The support provided by the 200-day EMA coincides with the lower trendline, forming what appears to be a bullish flag pattern for Ether.
Based on this pattern, there is a high probability of Ether experiencing an upward movement towards the upper trendline, located around $1,850, following a decisive rebound from the lower trendline. This potential increase would represent an approximate 15% rise from the current price level.
Furthermore, if there is a breakout above the upper trendline of the bullish flag, it could propel the price of ETH towards $2,500 as the next upside target for 2023.
Conversely, in a bearish scenario, a drop below the lower trendline of the bullish flag could exert further downward pressure on the price of Ether. In such a case, ETH price may potentially decline towards the support range of $1,400-1,450, which held significance during the first quarter but remains a less likely outcome given the current market dynamics.