Ethereum price analysis: ETH/USD dips below $500 even as Brian Kelly bets on Ethereum futures

ETH/USD is trading at $493 at the time of writing. After a period of consolidation, the second largest digital coin slipped back below $500.00 handle, which is regarded to be crucial for the extended recovery. It is down 1.5% on daily basis, but mostly unchanged since the beginning of Monday.  Current market capitalization is $49.8B and average trading volumes $1.2B, significantly lower Friday's $1.8B.

Speaking at CNBC’s “Fast Money”,  founder and CEO of BKCM LLC Brian Kelly said that Ethereum might become a better investment than Bitcoin soon. He cites upcoming Ethereum futures as the main reasons for that. Now that the US Securities and Exchange Commission SEC officially confirmed that the second largest coin is not a security, after all, clearing the obstacle for Ethereum futures. 

While traders hope that futures will attract institutional money and increase ETH liquidity, it is worth noting that the launch of Bitcoin futures did little to help the digital coin No.1, which has been sliding since that time.

Ethereum technical picture

ETH/USD failed to gain strong bullish momentum above critical $500 level, which means that the downside may be resumed soon, especially if the market players don't get fresh triggers for buying Ether. The local support is creatd by $480 level, while the upside is capped by $500 with both 50 and 100-SMA (hourly chart) seated at $497.

ETH/USD, the hourly chart