Amid speculations of SEC clamping down on Ethereum, ETH breaks 2-year high

The year is closing on a positive note for Ethereum investors, thanks to ETH’s impeccable price breakout of more than $700, $736.39, an 11 percent price rise, as reported by CoinMarketCap. This is the second time that the second largest cryptocurrency has risen above the $700 price mark. The last time was in 2018 when an all-time high of $1,417 was hit.

The amount of Ether’s trading over the last 24 hours has been considerably higher, thereby impacting the price of ETH. At the time of the press, the bulls are still in charge of the market and a new price record of $727 has been reached. If the price momentum remains unchanged, the cryptocurrency could test $750 for the next 24 hours. Failure to stay afloat could send ETH anywhere near the support level of $650.

The market’s stance on ETH’s price fluctuations is mixed. Ethereum saw a 300 percent price spike this year, due to the strong demand for DeFi tokens. The price of Ethereum is expected to rise as the transition to Ethereum 2.0 comes to fruition. The Beacon Chain (Phase 0), which was released in early December, is said to be the most challenging of all the other stages, according to Ethereum developer Danny Ryan. As of December 15, Ethereum 2.0 is just 18 percent complete.

While there is no clear completion date for the upgrade, there is no question that the project will make substantial progress in the coming months. The value of the ETH and other ERC-20 tokens depends on the performance of the upgrade of the network. The introduction of the Proof-of-Stake model is expected to address the issue of network congestion and high transaction fees, two main obstacles that will favour the network and its users when dismantled.

In the meantime, there’s still a rave about Ethereum’s network creators, who are being heavily criticised as SEC probes into Ripple. Author Vijay Boyapati, also known for his relentless criticism of Ethereum, echoed the sentiments of other cryptocurrency community members, all of whom are collectively tired of the “unknown” total supply of Ethereum, among other items. Vijay maintains that ETH is being sold as “something it isn’t” and adds that the SEC paid a blind eye to its creators enriching themselves as Ripple did.

No official statement on ETH has been made recently, but one of its founding members has recently responded to reports that it is a security regulated by the Chinese government. Back in 2018, William Hinman, Director of the SEC Division of Finance Corporation, noted that Ether was not a security firm.

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