Ether, the second biggest cryptocurrency out there, has grown over 2,000% over the past year.
One Ether token was worth $186 back in May 5, 2020. A year later, on Sunday eve, the cryptocurrency hit $4,000 for the first time ever, a rise of over a staggering 2,100%. Even if Dogecoin is taking up all of the world’s attention right now when it comes to cryptocurrency, it has been a huge achievement for Ethereum already this month of May, as Sunday’s milestone comes only a week after the cryptocurrency hit $3,000 for the first time.
Ether is a cryptocurrency that thrives on the Ethereum blockchain. Meanwhile, the most known crypto Bitcoin is built on its own, separate blockchain. While Bitcoin is considered like gold and mainly used as a speculative asset, Ether on the other hand is used by crypto traders to buy and sell “altcoins” such as Dogecoin. Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) or tokens that authenticate the ownership of a digital product are particularly bought and sold using Ether, not Bitcoin.
When he was just 19 years old, Canadian-Russian programmer Vitalik Buterin founded the Ethereum blockchain in 2013. Now the 27-year-old Buterin presently has over 333,000 Ether tokens (it is possible to see other traders’ portfolios if you have their wallet address), which at the current price values his holdings at more than $1.36 billion.
The cryptocurrency now has a marketcap of more than $460 billion. It has been growing swiftly over the past year, mostly over the building anticipation for its relaunch as Ether 2.0, but this latest high is linked to last week’s news that the European Investment Bank issued $120 million (€100 million) in bonds using the Ethereum blockchain.
Meanwhile, Dogecoin also hit a new high of almost 70 cents this week following its listing on eToro, before falling to about 50 cents after Elon’s Musk’s appearance on SNL.