Daily trading volume for ethereum’s ether (ETH) token hit a 12-month high on Thursday.

The second-largest cryptocurrency witnessed a 24-hour trading volume of 850,000 ETH yesterday – the highest level since September 15, 2017, according to Bitfinex data. Further, the current weekly volume of $2.9 million is the highest since mid-December, 2017.

Meanwhile, 24-hour trading volume across all exchanges currently stands at $2.33 billion, the highest level since July 18 this year, according to CoinMarketCap.

ETH daily trading volume on Bitfinex

The sharp rise in trading volume indicates the investors have likely bought the recent dip in ETH below $200. Hence, the recovery from the 13-month low of $167 to levels above $200 looks sustainable.

Further, the pick-up in trading volumes validates the bearish-to-bullish trend change signaled by the technical charts.

At press time, ETH is trading at $203, having clocked a high of $224 earlier today.

Daily chart

ETH created a hammer candle on Wednesday as it recovered from 13-month lows and posted a positive follow-through on Thursday, confirming a bullish hammer candle reversal and a bullish relative strength index (RSI) divergence.

The stochastic oscillator is also beginning to move away from the oversold territory having crossed bullish two days ago (Sept. 12).

All this indicates that the sell-off from the July highs above $500 has likely made a low at $167 and the bulls have likely regained control.

Still, there is merit in being cautious as the bearish (downward sloping) 10-day moving average (MA) could put brakes on the technical recovery.

Weekly chart

On the weekly chart, the volume is at the highest level since December. Back then, the cryptomarket as a whole was witnessing rising volumes, courtesy of bitcoin’s rise to a record high of $20,000.

Looking at the weekly chart, we can see how prices have spiked both in terms of bearish and bullish growing total volume.

Indeed for most of the year so far, ether’s total volume has remained relatively steady with some weeks in March and July experiencing lower than normal levels.

View

Ether’s high volume recovery from lows below $170 has likely turned the tide in favor of the bulls.

The cryptocurrency looks set to test the resistance at $250 (Aug. 14 low) in the near-term, albeit after a bout of consolidation.

The bullish case would weaken if prices find acceptance below $200.

Disclosure: The author holds USDT at the time of writing.

Ethereum image via Shutterstock; Chart via TradingView