Ether 

ETH

$1,263

 is worth more in Bitcoin 

BTC

$16,945

 than at any time since the start of the year amid renewed appetite for altcoins.

Altcoin market cap returns to $700 billio

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView confirms that ETH/BTC has cleared key resistance to pass 0.08 BTC on Aug. 13.

The move is impressive for the largest altcoin, Ether, as the area around 0.075 represented a troublesome sell zone that had previously kept bulls in check since January.

At the time of writing, ETH/BTC is working to retain the newly-won level, as traders query how long its strength might last.

As Cointelegraph reported earlier, ETH/USD passed $2,000 overnight, a significant psychological boundary in itself unseen since May.

Noting a trend to pile into altcoins developing, on-chain analytics firm Glassnode eyed a desire among investors to heighten risk exposure in the current atmosphere.

“According to Swissblock’s Altcoin Cycle Signal, some of bitcoin’s force tempered as investors divested into altcoins in a lower-risk environment,” co-founders Yann Allemann and Jan Happel wrote in the latest edition of their "Uncharted" newsletter:

“Since ethereum’s merge became clearer, ethereum has outperformed bitcoin, driving altcoins higher.”

The overall altcoin market cap also reached its highest since the end of May this week, passing $700 billion, according to figures from TradingView and CoinMarketCap.

ETH price analysis still favors bear market

Turning to potential price targets for Ether, traders nonetheless remained conservative after months of upside.

Related: Price analysis 8/12: BTC, ETH, BNB, XRP, ADA, SOL, DOGE, DOT, MATIC, AVAX

“$ETH to $2200 as long as we stay above $1737,” popular account Crypto Chase summarized:

“Once untapped highs start getting tapped (and no reversal is given), the rest of the highs typically meet the same fate. Don’t have my eyes on an exact level or setup for long opportunity just yet, but will update if I see one.”

“LTF trend v bullish: I'm eyeing breakout if $2k is claimed --> $2.4K,” fellow account Karoush AK continued:

“HTF trend neutral bearish: It is not a bull market, just less of a bear market. Under water bag holders blessed with an opportunity to derisk at $2k resistance.”

In its latest market update to Telegram channel subscribers, meanwhile, trading firm QCP Capital echoed the need for a cautious approach to further gains in a burgeoning altcoin market.

Of particular interest, staff wrote, was open interest (OI) on derivatives markets, with ETH eclipsing BTC activity by almost double.

“ETHBTC has broken above the 0.08 level and ETH option Open Interest (OI) is at an all-time high of $8 billion, overshadowing BTC option OI of $5 billion. This is unprecedented,” it wrote:

“Concerns around a hard fork remain with September ETH futures trading below -8% (annualised) vs. spot. We have been taking some profit on our long spot vs. short futures spread position.”

Ethereum's September Merge event, it added, could turn out to be something of an inflection point for markets.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.