Ether hits record high, taking 2021 gains to nearly 500%

LONDON, May 12 (Reuters) - Cryptocurrency ether hit a record
high on Wednesday, adding to a recent surge on the back of a
broader run-up in decentralised finance applications and
increasing institutional interest in cryptocurrencies.
Ether, the second-biggest cryptocurrency by market
capitalisation after bitcoin, climbed to a peak of $4,372.35,
eclipsing its previous record hit on Monday, and was last up 2%
on the day. Bitcoin BTC=BTSP was down a touch at $56,353.
Ether has jumped almost 500% against the dollar this year as
the ethereum blockchain becomes more widely used by peer-to-peer
- or decentralised - cryptocurrency platforms that enable
crypto-denominated lending outside of traditional banking
institutions.
The surge has also seen ether, which in the crypto world is
also widely referred to as ethereum, handily outperform larger
rival bitcoin, which is up about 95% against the dollar this
year.
U.S. bank J.P. Morgan on Wednesday said the pace of
evolution in the ethereum market has "remained rapid" and that
there was still room for growth.
Open interest in CME Ethereum futures had increased to $540
million in three months, the bank's analysts said in a note. A
similar level of open interest in CME Bitcoin futures took more
than two years after listing in 2017, they added.
"Effectively, once Bitcoin futures became more accepted
among institutional investors, they became more comfortable with
cryptocurrencies paving the way for a more rapid acceptance of
ethereum futures," J.P. Morgan said.
The same analysts warned last week that the cryptocurrency's
increasing valuation was not underpinned by data showing how
widely it is used.
Factors such as the number of active digital addresses in
its network would be more consistent with a price of around
$1,000, the U.S. bank said. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Ether outperforms Bitcoin in 2021 https://tmsnrt.rs/2RNwn9C
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