Ethereum Breaks Past $3,000 to Quadruple in Value in 2021
- Date: 03-May-2021
- Source: Asharq AL-awsat
- Sector:Financial Markets
- Country:Middle East
Ethereum Breaks Past $3,000 to Quadruple in Value in 2021
A representation of virtual currency Ethereum are seen in front of a stock graph in this illustration taken February 19, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
Cryptocurrency ether broke past $3,000 on Monday to set a new record high in a dazzling rally that has outshone the bigger bitcoin, as investors bet that ether will be of ever greater use in a decentralized future financial system.
Ether , the token transacted on the ethereum blockchain, rose 3% on the Bitstamp exchange to $3,051.99 by lunchtime in Asia. It is up more than 300% for the year so far, easily outpacing a 95% rise in the more popular bitcoin.
In part, the big rally is a catch-up to late 2020 gains in bitcoin, said James Quinn, managing director at Q9 Capital, a Hong Kong cryptocurrency private wealth manager.
It also reflects improvements to the ethereum blockchain, he said, and a growing shift towards "DeFi", or decentralized finance, which refers to transactions outside traditional banking for which the ethereum blockchain is a crucial platform.
"At first, the rally was really led by bitcoin because as a lot of the institutional investors came into the space, that would be their natural first port of call," Quinn said.
"But as the rally has