What’s Next for Crypto Markets After Ethereum’s Surge?

What’s Next for Crypto Markets After Ethereum’s Surge?

Things moved fast and furious this year again. In April, Bitcoin hit an all-time high close to $65, 000, just to lose 15 percent of its value the following weekend. Then the trading platform Coinbase listed, soared and now trades roughly 10 percent below its listing price. The new darling on the crypto block is Ether, which pierced the $3, 000 milestone for the first time early on Monday morning. It has advanced in excess of 1, 200 percent compared to a year ago. Ether's success shifted the relative landscape in the cryptocurrency space. At the beginning of the year, Bitcoin held a market share of 70 percent, which has now come down to 46 percent at a valuation of $2. 3 trillion. Ether's market share is 15 percent and other currencies have risen to occupy 36 percent. Bitcoin and Ether hold spots one and two in the league table. What is behind Ether's recent success? For one thing, it is based on the affiliated Ethereum blockchain which is decentralized, rendering Ether relatively safe compared with other cryptocurrencies. It also did not hurt that, last week, the European Investment Bank used the Ethereum blockchain to sell $121 million worth of