Ethereum Market Update: ETH/USD ready to rush to $600.00 amid rising trading fees

Ethereum (ETH) is on fire. ETH/USD has gained over 8% since the beginning of the day and tested $470 for the first time since July 19, 2018. At the time of writing, the second-largest digital asset is changing hands at $468.50 amid strong bullish bias. While the bulls seem to have hit a pause button for the time being, ETH may be poised for a stronger recovery as several key technical levels are left behind.

Gas prices skyrocketing amid DeFi craze

Ethereum gas fees have been growing steadily amid strong demand created by DeFi protocols. At the time of writing, ETH users will have to pay 450 GWEI for the standard transaction that will happen within 5 minutes. Fast transactions (under two minutes) will cost 476 GWEI. The average fees on USD have jumped to nearly $10.00 by press time., according to BlockchainInfo stats, which is significantly higher than the previous all-time high of $6.65. 

The average fees started to grow on August 27 amid the inflating bubble in DeFi industry. However, yield farmers and YFI investors are not the only beneficiaries of the craze. According to the data provided by Glassnode, Ethereum miners earned over $500,000 USD in a single hour on September 1, strengthening the case for the further ETH price increase.

ETH/USD: The technical picture

ETH/USD broke to a new high of 2020 and now the psychological barrier of $500 looks like an easy target. Once it is out of the way, the upside is likely to gain traction with the next focus on $600 reinforced by 38.2% Fibo retracement for the major move from 2017 high to 2018 low. If  $440 verified as a support, the upside momentum will gain traction. The upward-looking RSI on weekly and daily charts confirms the long-term bullish scenario.

ETH/USD daily chart