Why is Ethereum (ETH) price up today?
Ether's price is outperforming the cryptocurrency market on Feb. 6, with 4% daily gains to trade above $2,800. The total crypto market capitalization is up 0.65% over the last 24 hours to reach $3.23 trillion.Ether’s outperformance today can be attributed to several factors, including:Increasing investor interest surrounding the upcoming Pectra upgrade.Increasing inflows into spot Ethereum ETFs.ETH bulls attempting to flip $3,000 into support.Upcoming Pectra UpgradeOne bullish catalyst for Ether price is the much-anticipated Pectra upgrade. Things to know:It is set to be one of the most significant upgrades to Ethereum in history.Aims to improve scalability, increase transaction speeds, and reduce gas fees by doubling the blob space in Ethereum blocks, among other features. Slated for March 2025, with test runs on Ethereum's test networks, Sepolia and Holesky, throughout February.By making the network more efficient and cost-effective, Pectra could attract more developers to build on EthereumThis could increase demand for ETH. 11/ Pectra, Ethereum's next network upgrade, got a timeline and is tentatively scheduled to go live on mainnet in just 6 weeks!Yours truly gave a detailed breakdown of what features are coming in Pectra and what they mean for the ecosystem!https://t.co/f80pcILYT7The excitement around these improvements has undoubtedly contributed to the bullish sentiment around Ethereum, pushing its price upward as traders price in a potentially more robust and scalable platform.Ethereum researcher Justin Drake believes that the Pectra upgrade will reduce ETH supply.In a Feb. 5 post on X, Drake said:“To become ultrasound again, either issuance has to decrease, or the burn has to increase. I believe both will happen.”A lot of bullish things are happening now with Ethereum, including the Pectra upgrade, “and none of them have been priced in,” said crypto investor Ted Pillows, adding:“Along with that, sentiment is at ATL, which is the best signal for reversal. $5K ETH is coming before April 2025.”ETH price boosted by high ETF inflowsAdding to Ether’s bullish momentum on Feb. 6 is the significant inflows into US-based spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) over the last couple of weeks. Spot ETH ETFs have recorded positive inflows for five straight days, totaling $421.5 million. Year-to-date inflows are now $1.1B, and the cumulative total net inflow is $3.17B.BlackRock’s ETHA fund was the primary buyer with $579 million in inflows between Jan. 21 and Feb. 5.These ETFs are expected to attract substantial investments in 2025, especially if regulatory changes allow staking. Ether price needs to reclaim $3,000From a technical perspective, Ether’s marker is slightly biased to the downside, suggesting that increased selling could lead to another correction.The relative strength index is below its neutral level, indicating that the bears hold the advantage.The moving averages have produced a bearish cross, positioning ETH price for more downside.Conversely, the ETH will likely resume the uptrend if $3,000 is reclaimed as support. The price has historically rallied between 20% and 35% after overcoming and holding above the said level.The ETH support zone to watch for a rebound is right above $2,700, according to the liquidation heatmap from CoinGlass.If ETH turns $3,000 as support, it could rally toward the Dec. 16 range high of $4,100, or 44% gains from current levels.This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.