• Ethereum price has shown interest in a recovery rally, trading around $2,244.
• A spike in whale transaction count suggests investors could be buying the dip. 
• On-chain metrics hint at little to no resistance up to $2,800.
• A flip of the $2,145 level into the resistance level will invalidate the bullish thesis. 

Ethereum (ETH) price is attempting a recovery bounce that could kickstart a run-up to new yearly highs. Supporting on-chain and technical indicators add credence to this bullish ETH outlook.

Ethereum price ready to move higher

Ethereum price slipped low as $2,100 on January 3 after Matrixport’s ETF-rejection post. But ETH, like many other cryptocurrencies, recovered quickly. Ether currently trades at $2,244, forecasting a potentially explosive move to the upside.

The Relative Strength Index (RSI) hovers around 42 after its recovery from the oversold region a few days ago. A higher low formation could indicate a slow but steadily gaining upward momentum.

The Awesome Oscillator (AO) is much more optimistic than the RSI, which shows a decline in bearish momentum as the indicator approaches the zero line. A flip of the mean level would indicate that the bullish momentum is in play and could push Ethereum price higher.

In such a case, if Ethereum price flips the $2,300 hurdle into a support floor, it could move higher and retest the $2,400 barrier. In a highly bullish case, ETH could tag the 161.8% Fibonacci level at $2,562 and also the monthly resistance level at $2,652.

The bullish Ethereum price outlook is supported by the spike in Whale Transaction Count and Volume on January 3. According to Santiment’s data, this uptick occurred on the day of a massive sell-off, which is a sign of investors buying the dip.

Since whale-transaction count tracks transfers worth $100,000 or more, this uptick has a high chance of being a buy-the-dip move from institutional investors. Considering that the volume coincides with this uptick adds even more credence to the bullish outlook.

ETH whale transaction count, volume

Furthermore, IntoTheBlock’s Global In/Out of the Money (GIOM) indicator shows that the immediate key hurdle at $2,347 is relatively weak. Hence, overcoming this blockade could send ETH to the next critical level of $2,859. Here, roughly 10.77 million addresses that accumulated 5.2 million Ether are sitting at a loss. 

Therefore, a potential move into this hurdle could see a considerable spike in selling pressure from these holders trying to break even. 

ETH GIOM

On the other hand, if Ethereum price flips the range low of $2,144, it will create a lower low and invalidate the bullish thesis. In such a case, ETH could slide 6.50% and revisit the $2,000 psychological level.