Amid a bullish scenario, the prices of Ether and Bitcoin recently hit new all-time highs. The value of Ethereum’s cryptocurrency has increased by around 540% so far in 2021.
Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), the largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, have been bullish this week. While the former recently reached an all-time high of USD 68,641.57, the latter hit a new all-time high of USD 4,857.25.
Ether is currently trading at around USD 4,747 and has accumulated a profit of 3.3% in the past week. Its daily trading volume is above USD 20.4 billion, and its market capitalization is nearly USD 564 billion, according to CoinGecko.
The price of Ether is about the same as that of Bitcoin five years ago. Since then, the pioneering cryptocurrency has increased its value by more than 1,300% and consolidated in recent weeks.
In the last week, the price of BTC soared to more than USD 68,000, after holding high above USD 60,000 for the past three weeks. Experts believe that several factors conditioning the fluctuation of the largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization have led to that.
Yuya Hasegawa, a cryptocurrency market analyst at the Japanese bank BitBank, argues that the price of Bitcoin has increased for two reasons. She considers that the fall in real bonds by 1.09% in the last ten years and the generalized global inflation have contributed to it.
The Price of Ether Grows More than that of Bitcoin in 2021
This year, the rise in the price of Ether has remained above the value of Bitcoin, accumulating growth of 415%. Meanwhile, the first cryptocurrency on the market has increased by 125% and is currently trading at around USD 67,314.
The market capitalization of Ether is around USD 563.8 billion, while that of Bitcoin is above USD 1.27 trillion, according to CoinGecko. Regarding the general cryptocurrency market, the dominance of Ether represents 18.46%, while that of Bitcoin is 41.59%.
The current market capitalization of Ether is the same as that of the entire cryptocurrency ecosystem eleven months ago. The global value is above USD 3 trillion, an increase of 500% this year, which shows the growing interest in the ecosystem of those assets.
The Cryptocurrency Market Exceeds USD 3 Trillion
The entire cryptocurrency market recently exceeded USD 3 trillion for the first time. That happened amid higher interest from traditional finance and investors seduced by vertiginous rises but worried about inflation.
Contrary to the euro and the US dollar, Bitcoin has a set number of 21 million coins, gradually issued. That rule is impossible to change without controlling the integrity of the decentralized network. It is precisely the scarcity of the crypto asset that contributes to making it more valuable.
Some investors consider cryptocurrencies a way to hedge against inflation in both Europe and North America. Those buying those assets at a given price may receive considerable profits in the medium to long term.
Bitcoin and Ethereum represent more than 40% and just under 20% of the market, respectively. In contrast, the volatility of smaller cryptocurrencies is higher.
By Alexander Salazar
