Bitcoin’s top rival managed to break its own value records after having reached an all-time high of $450.23. Since the beginning of 2017 when it was worth $8, Ethereum has managed to boost its price by over 5,000 percent.
Ether Left its Previous Record Behind
The Ethereum blockchain cryptocurrency, ether’s most recent record breaking price of $450.23 was significantly higher than its previous high point, which was $414.76. It had reached that last record breaker back in June 2017, said CoinMarketCap. (update: the price is currently $489.24).
This has allowed ether to remain in the second position in the cryptocurrency marketplace, where Bitcoin continues to hold the top spot. That said, Bitcoin continues to have a massive lead ahead of all other players in the crypto market, having recently broken the $9,500 mark (currently $9701.45). Many predict that it will have broken the $10,000 level before the end of the year.
Still, Ethereum is continuing with an extremely rapid growth and has a market capitalization greater than $40 billion.
Mike Novogratz Caused the Latest Price Surge
The same billionaire investor who said Bitcoin would break $10,000 by the end of 2017 predicts that ether will strike the $500 mark by the close of the year. Novogratz stated that investors are diving into cryptocurrency investments because of their lack of confidence in more traditional financial institutions following the crash in 2008.
Bitcoin cash, on the other hand, a Bitcoin spinoff which came into existence when it divided from the original blockchain earlier in 2017, also strengthened. Last Friday alone, it rose up to $1,789.05. It temporarily took over as the second largest cryptocurrency earlier in November, though it returned to its third place position soon afterward.
Ether Transactions May Show Rising User Traction
Ethereum has a very high number of transactions when compared to other cryptocurrencies. In the average day, it sees well over 500,000 transactions. This represents half – or more – of all cryptocurrency trades taking place. It also indicates that ether may be seeing greater traction among users which helps to boost demand and, therefore, its price.
That said, transaction numbers reveal only a part of the complete picture due to the nature of blockchain. It is not entirely evident which percentage of transactions are occurring as a result of human choice and how many are selected by bots and applications.
Still, the high transaction numbers in combination with the shot in the arm from Novogratz help to explain the latest surge and why it may be continuing in a similar direction at least until the close of the year.