This week Ether (ETH) price came within 2% of its all-time high and on Dec. 2, the altcoin reached its highest price in Bitcoin (BTC) terms since May 2018. Ether hitting 0.0835 in its BTC pair represents a 229% gain for 2021, but Ether bulls might come out empty-handed from Dec. 3’s $680 million options expiry.
Notice the ascending channel formation initiated in mid-October, which likely reflects the network’s $177 billion total value locked in smart contracts (TVL). Moreover, Ether's ETH 2.0 beacon chain balance reached an 8.45 million high, which is a 4.5% increase in November.