Ethereum prints year-to-date high vs Bitcoin after Bellatrix hard fork ahead of The Merge

Ethereum has gained 15.6% against Bitcoin since the start of September and is up 6% on the day. The ETH-BTC chart has hit 0.84 BTC for the first time since December 2021 after falling to 0.49 BTC in June of this year.

The Bellatrix hard fork went live today, preparing the network for The Merge between Sept. 13-15. News of the upgrade going off without a hitch appears to have buoyed the market as the Ethereum price hit $1,680, up 6% on the day.

The Bitcoin price is largely unmoved, up just 0.92% on the day, allowing Ethereum to take a small step towards the flippening target of $3,850.

Across the broader market, Ethereum has not quite increased its dominance to the same degree as it has against Bitcoin. $ETH dominance is 20.9%, just 0.2% shy of the yearly high.

Today’s price action is a rare case of selling the rumor and buying the news, the opposite of the old adage in market moves. The scale of The Merge and the moving parts that need to be coordinated is unprecedented. The confidence given to the network by seeing the Bellatrix hard fork take place on the Beacon Chain is now reflected in the price.

Blocklight Editor at CryptoSlate

Also known as Akiba, Liam is a journalist and editor of Blocklight at CryptoSlate. He believes that decentralized ledger technology has the potential to make widespread positive change. He predicts the next 10 years will bring in a dawn of a new age of technological innovation.