Ether hits $500 billion market cap for the first time as the cryptocurrency’s rally pushes on

Ether hits $500 billion market cap for the first time as the cryptocurrency’s rally pushes on

Breached a valuation of $500 billion for the first time on Wednesday as the rally for the second-largest cryptocurrency continues. Ethereum's digital token hit $4,357 at around 6 a.m. ET, - a 53% jump in just 12 days since the beginning of the month. The milestone comes after ether , recording its biggest one-day gain in two years. Ether is trading higher by 7.8% to $4,272 as of 8:15 a.m. Wednesday. "Ethereum's monumental success this year is another reminder that digital assets have found a foothold and aren't going anywhere, even in the face of resistance from some," Paolo Ardoino, CTO of Bitfinex, said in an email. Some have been more bearish on ether's trajectory. Analysts at JPMorgan led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou last week said . "Prices appear to have diverged somewhat from the measures of network activity since the start of the year," the analysts wrote. They did acknowledge that a number of factors had pushed the price of ether higher in 2021 - particularly and . Bitcoin, which has a valuation of $1 trillion, breached the $500 billion mark for the first time in December 2020. David Grider, head of digital assets research at Fundstrat Global Advisors, told