With ETH Climbing Past $4,900, Expert Says: “Bitcoin Is Worn Out, But Ethereum Keeps Charging”

Ether Surges Past $4,900 on Coinbase, Enters Price Discovery With Analysts Divided

Ether (ETH) climbed beyond $4,900 on Coinbase Sunday at 5:40 p.m. UTC, surpassing its previous all-time high of $4,867 set back in November 2021.

Looking at the five-year ETH-USD chart on TradingView, Ether has broken out cleanly after years of consolidation, leaving no historical resistance levels above the 2021 peak. This move puts ETH into price discovery, where fresh highs are reached without prior chart-based guidance, driven instead by market psychology and order flow.

Over the last five days, ETH rallied from the mid-$4,700 range, crossed $4,900, and hit an intraday peak near $4,947. By 6:48 p.m. UTC, ETH was trading close to $4,942, reflecting strong buying that absorbed supply at prior ceilings and pushed the price to new heights—a classic breakout pattern.

Analyst Miles Deutsher summarized the dynamic clearly: “BTC is exhausted, ETH isn’t.” In other words, Bitcoin’s upward momentum is fading while Ethereum’s strength continues. When an asset is “exhausted,” its rally falters as sellers dominate; when it “isn’t,” it shows strong follow-through and active buying.

Crypto Rover highlighted shrinking ETH reserves on centralized exchanges, suggesting a “supply shock.” With fewer coins available for sale, scarcity could amplify price gains as buyers bid higher to pull coins off exchanges.

Yet analyst Michaël van de Poppe warned that weekend breakouts often retrace during the week when liquidity returns. Weekend trading tends to be thinner, making price swings more volatile. Once regular volume resumes, prices may pull back to retest breakout support before pushing higher again. This would be a healthy consolidation, not a reversal of the longer-term bullish trend.