2 Key Catalysts Driving Ethereum's Impressive 7% Move Over the Weekend

Among all large-cap cryptocurrencies, Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) has led the way in terms of both 24-hour moves and the overall moves we've seen over the past weekend.

As of 3 p.m. ET, Ethereum has surged 3.5% over the past 24 hours, and is now up 7.1% since Friday's market close.

Let's dive into two of the key catalysts that are behind this move, and why I think these catalysts promote a strong long-term investment thesis for investors considering picking up shares of digital assets in this current environment.

Improved scalability leads to increased investment

Today marks a big day for Ethereum investors, with the launch of a new initial coin offering (ICO) from MegaETH, a Layer-2 Ethereum scaling solution, seeing oversubscribed demand. In fact, this ICO was oversubscribed within five minutes, with plenty of investors and speculators appearing to be bullish on the potential of this Ethereum scaling solution to further improve the growth trajectory we've seen on the Ethernet blockchain.

Image source: Getty Images.

Following a successful testnet launch in March, investors have clearly been waiting for the opportunity to invest in this Ethereum-linked project, with a current valuation of $7 billion (based on ICO prices) likely to be eclipsed in short order.

If demand for MegaETH remains strong, and we do see the kind of underlying fundamental improvements investors expect from this project, this is a key catalyst investors will kick themselves for not paying closer attention to. With more than 100,000 users having completed know-your-customer (KYC) procedures ahead of this offering, this is a vetted development that's worth factoring into your pricing model for Ethereum moving forward.

Whales are joining in on the fun

So-called "whales," or large investors in Ethereum holding between 10,000 and 100,000 Ether tokens (worth between $42 million and $420 million, respectively, at current prices) have been adding to their positions in recent months. Recent reporting shows that this trend has been underway since Q2, and could continue over time.

The investors we're talking about here are mostly institutional in nature, suggesting that those with the deep pockets to make price-moving trades are looking upon the launch of MegaETH and other underlying developments as reasons to keep accumulating tokens.

I'd say that's a very good sign for smaller retail investors, but these trends to gyrate over time. For now, at least, momentum continues in a positive direction.

Chris MacDonald has positions in Ethereum. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Ethereum. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.