Ethereum's (CRYPTO: ETH) widely anticipated Pectra upgrade failed to have an immediate impact, with the second-largest cryptocurrency barely moving after its activation Wednesday.
What happened: ETH was up 0.96%, while trading volume rose scarcely by 0.52% over the last 24 hours.
According to IntoTheBlock, daily active addresses decreased by 0.25% in the last 24 hours, indicating a lukewarm response to the upgrade that brings significant changes to the Ethereum ecosystem.
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However, in a note shared with Benzinga, analysts at cryptocurrency payment company B2BINPAY declared the upgrade a tailwind and a "strong" fundamental catalyst for ETH.
"Investors should be ready for potential price resistance in the $1,900–$2,000 range, where previous rejections have occurred in the beginning of April," the analytics team said. "Still, strong "tailwinds" from its internal network upgrade and improving global conditions could help the price break through the critical resistance zone and consolidate over $2,000."
Pectra introduces sweeping changes across the Ethereum protocol, most notably increasing the amount of ETH one can stake from 32 to 2,048.
Other significant changes include the ability to pay network transaction fees in stablecoins rather than ETH.
"While these changes are geared towards bolstering Ethereum’s infrastructure, short-term price movements may remain subdued due to market anticipation of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision," Grigore RoÈ™u, founder & CEO of Pi Squared, told Benzinga earlier today.
Price Action: At the time of writing, ETH was exchanging hands at $1,862.80, up 2.2% in the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro. Year-to-date, the cryptocurrency was down 43.90%
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