Ethereum targets $1K after ETH, altcoins rally versus Bitcoin

Ether (ETH) has broken a critical price point against Bitcoin (BTC), signalling that altcoins may be about to see huge gains.

I'd take Ether bet "all day long" — Winklevoss

Data from Cointelegraph Markets, Coin360 and TradingView showed ETH/BTC pass the essential 0.026 level in just one daily candle on Jan. 3.

After staying weak throughout December, Ether has rebounded in the first few days of 2021, and Sunday's performance could be the start of something much bigger.

As Cointelegraph Markets analyst Michaël van de Poppe noted last week, 0.026 BTC is a significant breakout point, and flipping it to support indicates "strength and continuation" of a bullish resurgence.

"It’s time for #Ethereum, #Polkadot, #Cardano, #Chainlink and more to break all-time highs," he told Twitter followers on Sunday.

"I do believe that we're seeing money shift from BTC towards altcoins and that Ether has bottomed out on the BTC pair," explained Van de Poppe. "So probably continuation of altseason in this quarter with the topping out of Bitcoin dominance." He added: 

"But hey, a Bitcoin correction would be appreciated too."

At press time, ETH/USD was approaching landmark price levels of its own, taking aim at $1,000 on the back of 21% daily gains. The last time that the pair traded at four figures was in January 2018.

"$ETH was the best performing asset (up 450%) of 2020 hands down and still below its all-time high," Cameron Winklevoss, entrepreneur and co-founder of exchange Gemini, added on Twitter.

"Today it’s the equivalent of 15K #Bitcoin I would take that bet all day long."

Altseason is here at least?

With the prospect of "altseason" now firmly back on the menu, top ten market cap altcoins are showing signs of life against Bitcoin.

Litecoin (LTC) is up 18% against the largest cryptocurrency, while Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is 13.3% higher and Cardano (ADA) 9.7%.

Even XRP, still struggling on the back of legal action against Ripple, is finding its feet again with 3.5% daily progress in BTC terms. Bitcoin's overall market cap dominance remains above 70%.

As Cointelegraph reported, meanwhile, a longer-term commitment to altcoins may also prove lucrative this year. Mining Ether, for example, could net over $120,000 per annum.