All Eyes on Ethereum as Top Token Takes Aim at Yearly-High of $300

Ethereum has broken out of a two-month stagnation phase as speculation mounts around ETH 2.0. Different fundamental metrics suggest Ether is poised to advance further if demand continues to rise.

The smart contracts giant is back in the crypto spotlight after the Ethereum Foundation announced the official launch of the ETH 2.0 testnet.

Dubbed Medalla, the newest end-user centric testnet, will open on Aug. 4. The main focal point of this testnet is to improve the staking rewards process ahead of a presumed end-of-year launch.

“Medalla means ‘medal’ and can be seen as a reference to the Olympic testnet that was used to prepare the ETH1 launch. It emphasizes the importance of the network at this stage towards the ETH2 launch. It can also be seen as a hint that Medalla validators will receive a proof of attendance ‘medal’ on the Ethereum network for participation,” explained Afri Schoedon, a long-time Ethereum contributor.

Market participants appear to have welcomed the Ethereum Foundation’s positive news. As buy orders began to pile up, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap jumped by nearly 11% to hit a 5-month high of $271.

Ryan Adams, the founder of investment company Mythos Capital, believes that Ethereum is currently undervalued when taking into consideration the growing demand that the DeFi market sector is generating.

Meanwhile, technical analyst Aksel Kibar maintains that ETH is poised to advance towards $287 or higher following the recent breakout.

ETH at $263 is hilarious https://t.co/rZBNh62a17

— Ryan Sean Adams – rsa.eth