By Solomon Odunayo
The positive price trend experienced by virtually all the top cryptocurrencies in the market was arguably led by the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, Ethereum (ETH).
In less than 2 weeks, the digital token ETH saw about 70% price surge, which led to attaining its 2-year high of $410, after a long stay at $200 price region.
As the launch of Ethereum 2.0 Medalla testnet approaches, crypto pundits have been speculating about a possibility for ETH to reclaim the lost $400 support and to record new yearly highs.
Ethereum (ETH) Regaining Important Supports
The intraday high experienced by ETH some hours ago remarkably placed the price of the digital token at its highest since August 2018.
The positive trend led by Ethereum (ETH) managed to raise the total cryptocurrency market capitalization to $360 billion, its highest peak in the last 1 year. Howbeit, the massive liquidation of leveraged positions did not allow the figure to hold. At press time, the total crypto market capitalization now stands at $340 billion.
Due to the significant downtrend, the price of the digital token ETH retracted to the 200-hour MA before printing a much-needed price recovery. At the time of filing this report, ETH is trading at $386.36, with a 6.17% price uptrend in the last 24 hours.
Ethereum 2.0 Medalla Testnet to Launch in a Matter of Hours
Ethereum 2.0 Medalla testnet, which is said to be the final public testnet for Phase 0, Beacon Chain, is expected to launch in a matter of hours.
Going by the account of Ethereum protocol developer, Terence Tsao, the genesis state has been realized with over 20,000 validators. He specified that the testnet will go live on 4th August 2020, at 13:00 UTC.
Tsao tweeted, “We have a genesis state for Medalla Eth2 testnet! Total 20084 validators. Genesis time is Tuesday 1300 UTC.”
We have a genesis state for Medalla #Eth2 testnet! Total 20084 validators.
Genesis time is Tuesday 1300 UTC
🍜terence🍜 is ready pic.twitter.com/yJjTtsUDE3
— terence.eth 🦇🔊 (@terencechain) August 2, 2020
ETH Price Started Gaining Momentum after the Announcement of Medalla Testnet’s Launch Date
Sometimes in mid-July 2020, the launch date of Medalla testnet was announced and reported by Herald Sheets. A few days after this exciting announcement, the price of ETH in the market started gaining momentum for new highs. As the launch approaches, some analysts are of the opinion that ETH would maintain the surging trend to reclaim its recently lost support.
Also, Ben Edgington, an Ethereum researcher released an update regarding the process of Beacon Chain genesis. The fact that 20084 validators have staked at least 32 ETH within the time parameter indicates that the network is set for the launch of final testnet before the release of Ethereum 2.0 phase 0.
“The Medalla testnet is due to go live on August the 4th, and it is probably our one and only dress rehearsal before the real thing later this year,” Ben Edgington noted.