Ethereum Network Usage Hits Record High—But Traders More Bullish on Gold

Group 1: Ethereum Network Activity - The Ethereum network has reached a new all-time high in daily transaction count, with a 7-day moving average of 2.023 million transactions as of January 4, indicating increased user interaction with the blockchain [1] - The surge in transactions is attributed to the accelerating adoption of real-world asset (RWA) tokenization and a broader market recovery that has increased token transfer activity [1][2] Group 2: Market Sentiment and Price Action - Despite the increase in network activity, Ethereum's price has lagged, currently trading at $3,240, which is a 2.2% increase over the past 24 hours and an 8.9% increase over the past week [3] - Market sentiment shows that traders are more optimistic about gold than Ethereum, with a greater likelihood assigned to gold reaching $5,000 compared to Ethereum's near-term prospects [4] - Investors are more confident in a short-term target of $4,000 for ETH, with a 58% chance of reaching this target, up from 43% at the beginning of the year [5] Group 3: Long-term Outlook and Investment Case - The preference for gold in prediction markets is viewed as a short-term reaction to geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainties, rather than a fundamental shift away from Ethereum's narrative as "digital gold" [6] - The long-term investment case for Ethereum is supported by its dominance in decentralized finance (DeFi) and tokenized assets, areas where gold lacks functional equivalents [6] - A key catalyst for aligning Ethereum's price with its fundamentals is expected to be a sustained increase in on-chain ETH accumulation by long-term holders, which would tighten effective supply and support price appreciation [7]