JPMorgan Analysts Predict Ether Will Outperform Bitcoin Next Year; Halving Priced In

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JPMorgan analysts predict ether, the main asset of the smart contracts enabled Ethereum blockchain, will likely outperform bitcoin next year. A note released this week explains that Proto-Danksharding, an update coming to Ethereum next year to address the network’s operative capacity, will influence the token’s performance.

JPMorgan Predicts Ether Will Outperform Other Cryptocurrencies in 2024

JPMorgan has predicted that ether, the second largest cryptocurrency by market cap, is set to outperform bitcoin and other alternatives in 2024. In a recent note prepared by analysts led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, a managing director of global market strategy at JPMorgan, the bank predicts Ethereum to rise again and “recapture market share within the crypto ecosystem.”

Explaining the reasons behind this prediction, the note declares:

The main catalyst is the EIP-4844 upgrade or Proto-Danksharding, which is expected to take place during the first half of 2024. We believe that this upgrade will likely prove a bigger step towards improving Ethereum network activity, thus helping Ethereum to outperform.

Proto-Danksharding, an update focused on favoring the use of Ethereum rollups by lowering their fees — via implementing “data blob” transactions that have a limited lifetime on the Ethereum blockchain — aims to improve the operability of the network, leading to a rollup-based scaling roadmap described by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin.

In contrast, JPMorgan explains that elements that seem beneficial for bitcoin’s performance next year, including the so-called halving and the hypothetical approval of a spot ETF in the U.S., are already priced in. On this, analysts declared:

Given the current ratio of the bitcoin price to production cost is around x2.0 at the moment, this would imply that the 2024 bitcoin halving event is largely in the price.

JPMorgan’s remarks contradict the predictions of other financial service companies that are more optimistic about bitcoin’s performance for 2024. Bitwise forecasts that bitcoin will reach a new all-time high (ATH) of $80,000, while Vaneck also claims it will rise to a new undetermined ATH.

What do you think about JPmorgan’s predictions for bitcoin and ether? Tell us in the comments section below.