CRYPTOCURRENCY ETHER SOARS TO NEW RECORD
Cryptocurrency ether broke past $3,000 on Monday to set a new record high.
Ether, the token transacted on the Ethereum blockchain, rose 3% on the Bitstamp exchange to $3,144.81 in morning deals in London. It is up 325% for the year so far, easily outpacing a 95% rise in the more popular Bitcoin.
In part, the big rally is a catch-up to late 2020 gains in Bitcoin, said James Quinn, managing director at Q9 Capital, a Hong Kong cryptocurrency private wealth manager.
It also reflects improvements to the ethereum blockchain, he said, and a growing shift towards “DeFi”, or decentralised finance, which refers to transactions outside traditional banking for which the ethereum blockchain is a crucial platform.
“At first, the rally was really led by Bitcoin. But as the rally has matured over the last six months, you have DeFi and a lot of DeFi is built on Ethereum,” Quinn added.
