Ethereum's native token, Ether (ETH), has the prospect of logging a 40% price rally against its top rival, Bitcoin (BTC), per a classic technical pattern.
Dubbed a "symmetrical triangle," the structure develops after the price forms a series of higher lows and lower highs. Doing so results in a convergence of two trendlines with a degree of symmetry, which appears a a triangle.
Analysts treat symmetrical triangles as trend continuation indicators — i.e., they usually send prices in the direction of their previous trend following a clear breakout. As a result, the ongoing ETH/BTC price boom could undergo an upside continuation after having fluctuated inside a similar triangle structure over the last four months.
Part of the reason is Ether's attempt to break above its triangle consolidation setup after rising seven weeks in a row, for a total growth of 179%. If it does, the ETH/BTC exchange rate could rise by as much as the triangle's maximum height (approximately 0.025 BTC) from the point of its breakout (approximately 0.069 BTC).
That puts the pair's profit target near 0.094 BTC, about 40% above 0.069 BTC.
Ether's outperformance
Ether's bullish outlook against Bitcoin is emerging as it outperforms the benchmark cryptocurrency in dollar terms on an intraday basis.
On Aug. 31, the ETH/USD exchange rate rose 6.61% to $3,442, its highest level in three months. Comparatively, Bitcoin posted dwarfed gains, rising only 2.5% to $48,169, revealing a higher interim demand for Ether tokens among traders.
Dmitry Mishunin, founder and CEO of smart contract audit firm HashEx, predicted Ethereum and similar "smart contract-enabling blockchains" to keep outperforming Bitcoin in the long run, citing their superior utility.
"The duo of Cardano and Ethereum has the propensity to harbor countless innovative projects," Mishunin said, adding that Ethereum has the potential to flip Bitcoin in the long run.
"Bitcoin only relies on its capped supply and the first-mover advantage, a trend many investors are beginning to substitute for unique technology that can drive a blockchain-dominated future."
Jon Ovadia, founder and CEO of crypto exchange Ovex, also said that Ethereum has better fundamentals than Bitcoin at this moment, largely due to its recent network update that aimed to add deflationary pressure to Ether through a fee-burning mechanism.
"Thus far, about 146,878.7 ETH (worth approximately $492.3 million) have been burnt from the total circulating supply," Ovadia said, adding that:
"The potential for a more superior Proof-of-Stake infrastructure through the highly anticipated launch of Ethereum 2.0 will also make the blockchain more usable, thus driving the coin’s utility and its price growth."
Bitcoin's outlook, meanwhile
Thus far in 2021, Ether has grossly outperformed Bitcoin due to its incremental adoption in the booming decentralized finance (DeFi) and nonfungible token (NFT) industries. As it stands on Aug. 31, the year-to-date profits for Ether are 373% versus Bitcoin's 63.55%.
Related: Bitcoin rejects $51K after Michael Saylor reveals new BTC purchase — What’s next?
Nevertheless, Mike McGlone, senior commodity strategist at Bloomberg Intelligence, said Bitcoin would eventually catch up to Ether's gains, thus leading to $100,000 by the end of 2021 — more than double the price at which it is trading at the time of writing.
Fundstrat Global Advisors’ Tom Lee also envisions a six-figure bid for Bitcoin as long as it stays above its average price of the last 200 days — a long-term momentum measure.
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