After three days of consolidation following an early week burst higher, Ethereum was back on the front foot this Friday. The cryptocurrency was last changing hands a few bucks below the $1,600 level, up a little over 1.0% on the day according to CoinMarketCap. Admittedly, the cryptocurrency has succumbed to some modest profit-taking and backed off earlier session highs near $1,650.

Ethereum is currently on course to have risen nearly 19% this week, taking its gains since last Wednesday’s lows near $1,000 to nearly 60%. The latest surge higher saw Ethereum break above its 50-Day Moving Average around $1,310 and bulls still have their sights set on a test of the key long-term $1,700 resistance area. A break above here would open the door to a swift run higher towards $2,000.

Optimism about the upcoming “Merge”, which senior developers have tentatively scheduled for September, has been cited as a key driver of the recent rally, though an upturn in macro risk appetite that has given most cryptocurrencies a boost this week has also helped. As long as the Fed next week isn’t too hawkish and US corporate earnings remain broadly upbeat, there is no reason why macro sentiment can’t remain robust in the near future, and why Ethereum can’t continue higher.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin gave a talk on Thursday at the Ethereum Community Conference (EthCC) in Paris where he previewed his expectations for the upcoming “Merge” and following “Surge”. The “Merge” will see the Ethereum blockchain transition from an energy-intensive Proof-of-Work consensus mechanism to Proof-of-Stake by September, according to a tentative timeline recently laid out by senior developers.

According to Buterin, work on the transition to Proof-of-Stake, which some are referring to as Ethereum 2.0, is 90% complete. Meanwhile, Buterin explained that the “Surge” will see the Ethereum network updated to improve its scalability. “At the end of this road map… Ethereum will be able to process 100,000 transactions per second”, Buterin claimed. At present, the network can only manage up to around 30 transactions per second.

The head of Blockdaemon’s Ethereum ecosystem Freddy Zwanzger told Cointelegraph during this week’s Ethereum Community Conference (EthCC) that he expects Ethereum to retain its position as the leading smart contract platform. “All the Ethereum killers from back in the day didn’t succeed, and I don’t expect them to succeed at all”, he added. Blockchain projects such as Cardano, Solana and Polkadot, are often referred to as so-called “Ethereum killers”.

“ETH will become deflationary following the Merge, IntoTheBlock’s head of research Lucas Outumuro said on Twitter on Friday. According to Outumuro, the token’s net annual issuance will likely fall to between -0.5% to -4.5%, depending on network fees.

$ETH will become deflationary following the merge

ETH's net issuance is likely to range between -0.5% to -4.5% depending on network fees

Here is a projection of what that would look like based on 2022 historical data pic.twitter.com/KdWq072Mbz

A reduction in ETH supply should theoretically boost its price in the long run, especially if the network’s mainstream adoption continues to grow in the years ahead.

ApeCoin (APE) continues to trade with substantial gains on the week despite a recent pullback to the $6.50 area. It is up 30% and according to CoinMarketCap, the cryptocurrency is the best performer in the top 50 by market capitalization, having gained over 17.5% in the last 24 hours alone.

ApeCoin’s bull run this week began on Monday when it surged above a downtrend that had been capping the price action since late June and above resistance in the $5.20 to $5.70 area. It then consolidated on Tuesday and Wednesday on either side of $6, before powering higher on Thursday and into Friday towards $7. Bulls now have their sights set on a test of an area of support turned resistance around $7.50. Above that, there is very little to stop the cryptocurrency from surging back to $10 per token.

EOS was finally able to break convincingly above its 50DMA (at $1.027) on Friday and was last trading higher by over 9.0% on the day near $1.15. The late May lows in the $1.18s have for now capped the upside, but this level will remain under scrutiny.

The cryptocurrency was last trading higher by about 13% in the last 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap, making it the second best performing in the crypto top 50 by market cap. A break above $1.18 resistance could open the door to a swift rally back to $1.40. A break above that could open the door to a quick run higher to the next area of resistance in the mid-$1.80s.