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Ethereum is coming back to its 2018 levels thanks to a strong growth in recent days. At more than 700 dollars, the Ether weighs a total of more than 80 billion dollars. In 2021, the focus will be on institutions.
Bitcoin had the luxury in recent days to climb above 28,000 dollars. However, it is not the only cryptocurrencies to record a strong increase over the period. The ETH is indeed seeing its share price rise.
On Sunday the 27th, Ether reached the 700 dollar mark, at least temporarily. It thus returned to the level it had reached in 2018. This was the first time since the boom.
On Monday, December 28th, the native crypto-active Ethereum blockchain is sitting again above 700 dollars. At 10:30 a.m., according to CoinDesk, the value of the asset was just over $736. Over the last 24 hours, ETH has grown by more than 13%.
Ether is consolidating its position as the second largest cryptocurrency, far behind Bitcoin’s $500 billion, however. Indeed, the total capitalization of the token is close to 80 billion dollars. Trading volumes are also significant.
Our colleagues estimate them at 2.3 billion dollars, compared to an average of 2.17 billion dollars per day during the last seven days. Is Ether also benefiting from growing interest from institutional investors?
As early as December, the leading crypto-asset manager, Grayscale, underlined the interest in Ethereum. “There is a growing conviction around Ethereum as an asset class” said its CEO, Michael Sonnenshein.
“The development of the asset class has continued to consolidate,” he said. “Ethereum has the same strength as Bitcoin” according to Sonnenshein. This investor interest can be measured in particular by the growth of the Grayscale Ethereum Trust.
However, other indicators should also be taken into account. For example, CME Group will launch ether futures (ETH) contracts on February 8, 2021. For the Messari firm, this is the signal for institutional purchases of cryptocurrencies in 2021.
“Once you accept that Bitcoin may have value, it opens your mind to the possibility that other crypto-actives may also have value. Then it’s much easier to switch from $BTC to $ETH,” writes Ryan Watkins.