5 Reasons Why Ethereum Could Outperform Bitcoin in December and January

Over the past two years, Bitcoin has come roaring back from the crypto winter of 2022. It was a harsh one-year correction cycle, complete with an eruption of cash crunches and liquidations of some big blockchain names.

The crash was so devastating that a few Web3 founders who broke the law even went to jail after that massive market correction.

But BTC, the oldest, longest and most secure Satoshi chain, steadily climbed support levels through 2023 before melting down this year.

2025: Ethereum at a Glance

Meanwhile, Ethereum and altcoin prices have followed Bitcoin’s rise. The second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, however, has not been able to move with the same gusto, boosting the fortunes of the little orange coin.

What characterizes Bitcoin is its stated simplicity as a global calculator for small sums representing large amounts of value locked by a secure computer hash protocol and market forces.

In comparison, Ethereum is designed to handle more complexity as a global computer for anything you want. The market appreciates its potential to reliably host powerful smart contracts on a network governed by rules enforced by computer programming rather than trusted rulers controlled by civil authorities.

Ethereum’s biggest challenge right now is to simplify complexity instead of bog it down, while maintaining a truly automated protocol and roundtable for its users.

Smart contract platform co-founder Vitalik Buterin highlighted this challenge in a December 7 post on X. “If Ethereum gave up verifiability and accepted centralized committees and intermediaries for everything, I would consider it no longer Ethereum “, he wrote. .

While Ethereum’s core team guides its development, here are five reasons why the crypto exchange values ​​of its ETH tokens could eclipse BTC’s percentage growth over the next 60 days.

1. Ethereum Technical Analysis

As popular analyst Cryptos Batman recently told followers in a post on X, the price of Ethereum recently broke a 3-year bearish trend line. This could signal a bullish reversal, with Ether taking flight as Bitcoin has in recent months.

Ethereum breaks 3-year bearish trend line

For the first time in 3 years, $ETH it has closed a candle body above its upper bearish trend line.

The new test this week is a healthy sign, setting the stage for a sustained rally. Opportunities like this don’t come around often. Don’t miss it! pic.twitter.com/9iJe3PhXbL

— BATMAN ⚡ (@CryptosBatman) December 9, 2024

“For the first time in 3 years, $ETH has closed a candle body above its upper bearish trendline,” wrote Cryptos Batman. “The new test this week is a healthy sign, setting the stage for a sustainable rally. Opportunities like this don’t come around often. Don’t miss it!”

2. Excellent Trump Bump Prospects

In addition to a strong technical backdrop for an Ether bull run, the political/regulatory situation for the asset could hardly be more favorable.

A pro-growth crypto policy was a Trump campaign promise. This is great for the blockchain industry in general, but could be especially auspicious for Ethereum prices on the exchange.

Ethereum and its ERC20s were always less secure than Bitcoin from regulatory uncertainty, so its price benefits more from a pro-growth administration friendly to the decentralized financial business.

3. Santa Claus Rally for Ethereum Incoming?

In the history of liquid financial markets for tradable assets like stocks and cryptocurrencies, there is usually a “Santa Claus” or year-end price spike that extends into January. This is often the most profitable part of the calendar when these assets make their biggest gains in the foreign exchange markets.

This pattern has so far been experienced by the Bitcoin and altcoin markets, with BTC and alts like Ethereum making big jumps on the chart in December and January.

During the last Santa demonstration immediately following a Bitcoin halving in 2020-21, like the current period from December to January 2024-25, ETH’s price performance far exceeded that of BTC.

These are the figures for this cycle:

The high price of Bitcoin on December 21, 2022 was $24,059. But on January 18, 2023, its peak was $37,299. Meanwhile, Ethereum’s high price on December 21, 2022 was $646. However, on January 18, 2023, Ether was trading at a high of $1,259. Thus, BTC increased by 55% while ETH increased by 95%.

4. BTC Crushed Already ATHs in ’24, Ether’s Waiting

As long as the fundamentals of the value proposition and market conditions remain in line, the “mean reversion” trend or a return to the mean trend line remains an important factor to consider in the price of a cryptocurrency .

What goes up must come down and what stays down has nowhere to go but up again. As a result, the average prices of Ethereum on crypto exchanges seem to be getting ready to do so in the futures markets.

Bitcoin has already flipped the chart in a way that Ether hasn’t so far in this macro market halving cycle. Remember that Bitcoin has already surpassed its historical prices. Ethereum has yet to set its past record in this cycle. This means that the alt season is still ahead of us if markets retrace past crypto trends.

5. Institutions are catching up with Ethereum

While Bitcoin is firmly in the regulated and safe column for institutional investors on Wall Street, altcoins have yet to achieve that “most favored nation” status with US commodity and financial regulators.

Ethereum stands out from the rest of the altcoins because it seems to be well on its way to Bitcoin’s level of mainstream acceptance. At least it has spot ETF products for regulated investors like Bitcoin.

However, the trend toward greater institutional adoption of Ethereum is a headwind for its price, which markets are counting on as exchanges continually revise Ether’s valuation.

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