Ethereum price bounds ahead
By Claire Hunte
12:07, 22 April 2021
Ethereum, the number two cryptocurrency by market value, gathered steam on Thursday, rising more than 14% to $2,571.82.
At the time of writing, Ether was up 7.8% to $2,556.96 on Coindesk, with growing investor interest fuelling the drive. After a weekend when cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin ricocheted from record highs, losing momentum before stabilising, sentiment returned.
However, Ethereum has been garnering interest as more and more blue chip companies start using it – with big names including Dutch bank ING, JP Morgan, Amazon and Microsoft.
In early February, billionaire investor Mark Cuban described his cyrptocurrency portfolio as 60% Bitcoin, 30% Ethereum and 10% the rest. Cuban spoke glowingly of the coin – linked heavily with non-fungible tokens (NFTs), its flexibility and smart contracts. Cuban was quoted saying: "I have a lot of Ethereum as well. I wish I had bought it sooner, but I started buying it four years ago simply because I think it’s the closest we have to a true currency.”
Watch NFTs soar
During the first quarter of this year, roughly $1.3bn in NFTs traded through Ethereum network. NFTs allow anyone to buy and sell digital 'art' (pretty much anything) through the blockchain by providing transparent proof of ownership.
NFTs are unique tokens with individual identification that cannot be replicated. Ethereum says "NFTs are currently taking the digital art and collectibles world by storm. Digital artists are seeing their lives change thanks to huge sales to a new crypto-audience. And celebrities are joining in as they spot a new opportunity to connect with fans."
Some of the market activity in NFTs has been down to speculation following the route of other rallies in meme stocks, as seen in the frantic pile-on with GameStop, or other cryptocurrencies such as the recent frenzy behind Dogecoin.
Bitcoin fell -0.81% to $54,920.59 and XRP dropped -3.14% to $1.31.
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