Ethereum preparing a 'bear trap' ahead of The Merge — ETH price to $4K next?

Ethereum's autochthonal token, Ether (ETH), continues to look downside risks successful a higher involvement complaint environment. But 1 expert believes that the token's adjacent selloff determination could crook into a carnivore trap arsenic the marketplace factors successful the imaginable merchandise of the Merge coming August.

ETH to $4K?

Ether's terms could scope $4,000 by 2022's end, according to a technical setup shared connected May 20 by Wolf, an autarkic marketplace analyst.

The expert envisioned ETH moving wrong a multi-month ascending triangle pattern, which comprises a horizontal trendline absorption and rising trendline support.

Notably, ETH's latest retest of the structure's little trendline could initiate a large rebound toward its precocious trendline, which sits astir the $4,000-level, arsenic shown below. 

ETH/USD three-day terms illustration featuring ascending triangle setups. Source: Wolf/TradingView

Wolf took his bullish cues from a akin triangle setup from 2016, whose enactment preceded a large bull tally from $1 to $27. Similarly, different ascending triangle occurrence successful 2017 coincided with a bullish follow-up, wherein ETH/USD roseate 270% to implicit $1,500.

The Merge vs. debased liquidity "death spiral"

Wolf's fractal-based investigation came arsenic Preston Van Loon, 1 of the Ethereum halfway developers, confirmed that the blockchain project's much-anticipated upgrade to a proof-of-stake statement mechanics would hap sometime successful August.

Wolf noted that Ethereum mounting up a "bear trap," which would marque consciousness anterior to the upgrade, complimenting his method setup, arsenic discussed above.

Bear trap fewer months from the #merge makes sense. $ETH

— Wolf (@IamCryptoWolf) May 20, 2022

The pending upgrade was one of the cardinal catalysts down Ether's terms rally successful 2021, arsenic galore investors believed it would amended the long-standing scalability occupation successful the Ethereum blockchain portion cutting transaction and state costs. Nonetheless, Ethereum Foundation kept delaying the launch.

"Undoubtedly, this deficiency of advancement has played a large relation successful Ethereum's caller terms decline,"  Bitfreedom Research, a tech-stock and crypto probe entity, noted while predicting ETH's terms to diminution toward $950-$1,900 by October 2022.

Related: Analysts enactment parallels with March 2020: Will this clip beryllium different?

The steadfast cited higher involvement rates arsenic the halfway crushed down its bearish outlook for Ethereum, noting:

"The crypto marketplace moves extraordinarily fast, which means crypto companies request LOTS of currency to powerfulness accelerated growth. With nary currency available, this tin pb Ethereum's ERC20-token system to determination successful a decease spiral."

The views and opinions expressed present are solely those of the writer and bash not needfully bespeak the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every concern and trading determination involves risk, you should behaviour your ain probe erstwhile making a decision.