If Ethereum bulls clear resistance near $485, the next barrier will be around $530
Ethereum (ETH) price is up by about 4.5% in the past 24 hours to change hands around $465 at the time of writing.
If ETH continues to rise short term, the momentum could take it above a crucial resistance line. After this, bulls are likely to aim for the psychological $500, with the breakout bringing into play the next resistance area around $530.
ETH/USD technical picture
Ethereum remains within an ascending parallel channel on the hourly chart.
The ETH/USD pair is trading near the middle line of the channel. However, the upside continues to stall below the upper limit, which bounds action at $485.
Bulls have previously attempted to break to the boundary or higher on multiple occasions over the past few days without success.
But with price inching higher on the hourly chart, it looks like the prevailing bullish momentum will be enough to take ETH/USD over the threshold.
ETH currently trades near $465 and likely will test bear resolve at the upper boundary of the indicator. The 100 hourly simple moving average and the upward pressure means the short term target is to break above the trendline and consolidate near the $500 price line.
Once bulls clear the trendline resistance and make the 100-SMA a major support zone, the next barrier is around $530.
On the flip side, the short term view will turn negative if bulls fail to keep gains above the middle line of the channel.
More importantly, ETH needs to stay above the 100-SMA for bulls to retain their upper hand. If sellers succeed in pushing the ETH/USD pair lower, losses may extend beyond $450. A more realistic support base is near $440, which is also the base of the parallel channel.
Elsewhere in the market, Bitcoin (BTC) has touched highs of $16,750 and could soon break above $17K. Meanwhile, Litecoin (LTC) is outperforming most large cap altcoins with a 15% price jump to see bulls eye a break to $80.00.