A popular cryptocurrency analyst has suggested that Ethereum ($ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, could unexpectedly surge toward $5,000 as we get closer to the upcoming Merge upgrade.

The pseudonymous analyst known on social media by Kaleo has recently told its over 500,000 followers on the microblogging platform that if Bitcoin ($BTC) is to run to $32,000 and Ethereum manages to retest its previous all-time high against the cryptocurrency so one ETH is worth 0.15 BTC, then “you’re looking at an ETH price of $4800.”

The analyst added that while he does not expect Ethereum to go past that point by a lot, the “hype of the flippening narrative will be the only thing you see on the timeline if ETH gets anywhere close to those levels. When we’re there, we’re most likely at peak euphoria and you should definitely consider taking profit.”

It’s worth noting that the price of Ethereum has recently surged based on Ethereum’s long-anticipated transition called the Merge from an energy-intensive proof-of-work (PoW) consensus mechanism into a more efficient Proof-of-Stake consensus, which has been projected to occur in September.

The Ethereum Merge describes the network’s current mainnet merging with the Beacon Chain’s PoS system, setting the stage for future scaling upgrades, including sharding. The move is expected to reduce Ethereum’s energy consumption by 99.95%.

Tim Beiko, an Ethereum protocol support engineer at the Ethereum Foundation, made the September projection at a PoS Implementers Call. Beiko has noted that the Merge timeline is very likely to change over time.

To Kaleo, the most likely scenario is the pair finding resistance when Ethereum rises toward the $3,600 mark, however.

As CryptoGlobe reported, the number of active addresses on the Ethereum network has mysteriously jumped to a new all-time high, with nearly 1.1 million ETH addresses transacting in a single day to make a total of 1.64 million transactions.

Notably, according to CryptoCompare’s July 2022 Digital Asset Management Review, which details that in July every cryptocurrency investment product covered in the report saw positive 30-day returns, Ethereum-based products “leading the bounce-back” while being driven “by price movements in the underlying asset.”

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