Just as Wall Street is paying more attention to bitcoin, a rival is increasingly threatening to become the top dog among cryptocurrencies. <\/p>\n
Ethereums market capitalization is nearing bitcoins, as shown in the chart below from CoinMarketCap. <\/p>\n
As of Wednesday, bitcoin BTCUSD, -4.43% (shown in orange on the chart) accounted for 39% of the combined market capitalization for all cryptocurrencies, down sharply from 87% on Feb. 25. <\/p>\n
Blame the erosion on ethereum (shown in purple), which now makes up 31% of the total market cap, up from just 5% less than four months ago. <\/p>\n
If ethereums market cap overtakes that of bitcoin, then The Flippening will have happened. That is the term that many people are using to refer to that shift, according to a post at the Flippening Watch blog. <\/p>\n
Bitcoins market cap on Wednesday was around $45 billion and its price was just below $2,800, according to data from CoinDesk and CoinMarketCap. Ethereums market cap recently stood at $36 billion and its price at around $390. <\/p>\n
Read more: Cryptocurrencies top $100 billion in market capitalization <\/p>\n
Dont miss: 3 reasons why bitcoins surge may not be a bubble <\/p>\n
By some metrics, ethereum already has eaten bitcoins lunch. <\/p>\n
It has almost five times as many nodes in its network as bitcoin, meaning more people are using their computers to support it, a Motherboard report notes. Ethereum also has more transactions per day, the report adds. <\/p>\n
Check out: Ethereum has soared but is it ready for prime time? <\/p>\n
But some traders remain skeptical of ethereum: <\/p>\n
In the screenshot in the above tweet, ICO refers to an initial coin offering, a new way to raise money. One startup reportedly raised nearly $150 million this week via an ICO. <\/p>\n
As their prices have soared, cryptocurrencies increasingly have attracted the attention of Wall Streets analysts. <\/p>\n
A Goldman Sachs technical analyst issued a bearish take on bitcoin earlier this week, leading the Zero Hedge financial blog to quip that probably means that bitcoin is set to make new all-time highs shortly. <\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley analysts have predicted that cryptocurrencies will not rally that much more unless they get governmental acceptance, including more regulations. <\/p>\n
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See the original post: Just as Wall Street is paying more attention to bitcoin, a rival is increasingly threatening to become the top dog among cryptocurrencies. Ethereums market capitalization is nearing bitcoins, as shown in the chart below from CoinMarketCap. As of Wednesday, bitcoin BTCUSD, -4.43% (shown in orange on the chart) accounted for 39% of the combined market capitalization for all cryptocurrencies, down sharply from 87% on Feb Continue reading
\nHow cryptocurrency ethereum looks set to overtake bitcoin in one chart - MarketWatch<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"