Ether, the digital token of the Ethereum blockchain, is the second-largest cryptocurrency in the world by market value.<\/p>\n
Jaap Arriens | NurPhoto via Getty Images<\/p>\n
LONDON The cryptocurrency ether hit a fresh all-time high on Friday, surging past $1,700 for the first time.<\/p>\n
Ether, which is the world's second-largest digital coin by market value, climbed 11.2% to a price of $1,743 at around 10:30 a.m. ET, according to data from CoinDesk.<\/p>\n
It comes after bitcoin, the most valuable virtual currency, hit a record high close to $42,000 last month.<\/p>\n
Bitcoin more than quadrupled in price over the course of 2020, and is up 29% since the start of 2021. Ether has risen about 129% year to date.<\/p>\n
Ether has been steadily rising this week as investors await the highly anticipated launch of ether futures contracts from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange next week.<\/p>\n
Trading in ether futures is set to start Monday. The CME launched bitcoin futures over three years ago, at the peak of that cryptocurrency's 2017 rally.<\/p>\n
Some investors believe that futures and other crypto-focused derivatives products will give institutional investors more confidence to invest in the space.<\/p>\n
\"Bringing more financial instruments will bring more participants into the market,\" said SachinPatodia, a partner at Avon Ventures, a venture capital fund affiliated with the parent company of Fidelity. \"That probably is positive for the ether price.\"<\/p>\n
But Patodia said a big driver of the price of ether and other smaller digital currencies was the momentum for bitcoin in recent months.<\/p>\n
\"We've seen this pattern over many crypto cycles that we've gone through, where bitcoin leads the way in price movement and then you see what we call the alt-coins get carried along,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Ethereum, ether's network, was created after bitcoin in 2013. The main difference it has with bitcoin's blockchain is the ability to support applications.<\/p>\n
\"This move by the CME may spark further buying of ether by new entrants to the market because it provides a way forsophisticatedinvestors to hedge their risk againstpositions that they may be holding on the underlyingasset,\" Simon Peters, a cryptoasset analyst at online investment platform eToro, told CNBC.<\/p>\n
\"However, it is worth noting that, like bitcoin, CME ether futures will be cash settled so as not to involve any physicaldelivery, so we shouldn't necessarily expect a major impact on spot prices.\"<\/p>\n
Crypto investors said another factor potentially boosting ether was the start of a major upgrade to the Ethereum blockchain, called Ethereum 2.0. Believers in ether hope the upgrade will make Ethereum faster and more secure.<\/p>\n
The total market value of all cryptocurrencies combined hit $1 trillion last month, as bitcoin's price surged to records. Bitcoin bulls say it's gotten a boost from institutional demand, as well as the perception that it is a store of value similar to gold.<\/p>\n
Bitcoin was up 4.7% in the last 24 hours, trading at a price $38,151. XRP, the third-largest digital token, climbed 10.7% to 44 cents.<\/p>\n
But skeptics like economist Nouriel Roubinisay bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have no intrinsic value. A recent Deutsche Bank survey found investorsview bitcoin as the most extreme bubblein financial markets.<\/p>\n
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Continue reading here: Ether, the digital token of the Ethereum blockchain, is the second-largest cryptocurrency in the world by market value. Jaap Arriens | NurPhoto via Getty Images LONDON The cryptocurrency ether hit a fresh all-time high on Friday, surging past $1,700 for the first time. Ether, which is the world's second-largest digital coin by market value, climbed 11.2% to a price of $1,743 at around 10:30 a.m. Continue reading
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