Key takeaways:

Ethereum is forming a bull flag on the daily chart, with a potential breakout to $4,000.

If Ethereum’s network activity and total value locked continue to grow, ETH price may see further gains.

Ether’s price printed a “bull flag” on the daily chart, a technical chart formation associated with strong upward momentum. Could a strengthening technical setup and increasing transaction fees signal the continuation of ETH’s rally toward $4,000?

Ethereum transaction fees rising is bullish

Marketwide recovery, fueled by Bitcoin’s rise to new all-time highs and improving macroeconomic conditions, saw Ether’s (ETH) price rise by nearly 56% to an eight-week high of $2,734 on May 23, from a low of $1,750 on May 6. 

This strength in price is reflected in onchain activity, with Ethereum’s daily transaction count rising by 37% over the last 30 days. These levels were last seen in January 2024, when the hype around the approval of US-based spot Bitcoin ETFs pushed ETH price above $4,000 for the first time since December 2021.

Ethereum daily transaction count. Source: CryptoQuant

Ethereum’s daily average transaction fees also skyrocketed, reaching a 90-day high of 0.0005 ETH ($1.33) on May 22. 

Ethereum: Fee per transaction. Source: Source: CryptoQuant

High transaction count and fees suggest that more users are interacting with the network, whether for DeFi, NFTs, or other DApps. It suggests high network activity, often correlating with increased interest and market confidence. 

Related: Ethereum holders back in profit as ETH price enters ‘crucial area’ for $3K breakout

Historically, Ether’s price has surged during high-usage periods. For example, during the 2021 DeFi boom, fees spiked to as high as 0.015 ETH due to high demand. 

As such, high utilization periods with high fees indicate growth in network activity or bullish sentiment, as more ETH is needed for gas, pushing its price upward.

Increasing TVL supports ETH price bulls

The increase in Ethereum’s network activity is also evident when analyzing the total value locked (TVL) on the network’s smart contracts. 

Ethereum’s TVL has risen to $65.3 billion on May 23 from $45.26 billion on April 22, an increase of over 44% in almost 30 days.

Ethereum TVL and transaction count. Source: DefiLlama

Positive signs include a 51% increase in deposits on Pendle, a tokenization protocol, and 48% growth on Ether.fi and EingenLayer.

Ethereum remains the undisputed leader by TVL, with a market dominance of 54%. In comparison, Solana’s dominance stands at 8%, and BNB Chain commands only 5% dominance in TVL among layer-1 chains.

Total value locked market share (%). Source: DefiLlama

In addition, US-listed spot Ether ETFs saw a total of $249 million in net inflows between May 13 and May 22, adding to demand-side tailwinds.

Spot Ethereum ETF flows data. Source: SoSoValue

Ether’s bull flag hints at $4,000

ETH price has formed a bull fag chart pattern on the daily chart, as shown below.  

A bull flag pattern is a bullish setup that forms after the price consolidates inside a down-sloping range following a sharp price rise.

ETH/USD daily chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

The flag resolved after the price broke above the upper trendline at $2,550 and could now rise by as much as the previous uptrend’s height. This puts the upper target for ETH price just below $4,000, up 56% from the current price.

Crypto analyst Michael van de Poppe said that the ETH price needs to hold the $2,400 support to increase the chances of moving toward $3,500 and beyond.

Source: Michael van de Poppe

As Cointelegraph reported, Ether’s uptrend is likely to continue toward $3,600 in May if key support levels hold.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.