Ether has risen more than $ 2,000 since the original cryptocurrency of the Ethereum blockchain continued its year-long bull run.
According to CoinDesk 20, ether hit a new record of $ 2,033.08, up 6.18% in the last 24 hours, with the market capitalization of the crypto $ 233.3 billion. The crypto-currency is 172.5% higher than the previous year.
While ether that hits $ 2,000 would normally be a stop-the-presses-type event, it will almost certainly be overshadowed by the many milestones reached hours earlier by bigger brother or sister bitcoin, including the first time a trillion dollars worth a period of 24 hours.
But the rise of the eater and its popularity should not be overlooked. At least three growing demand areas are stimulating the rise in the ether price: decentralized financing (DeFi), Ethereum 2.0 investment, and a newly formed institutionally focused ether market on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME).
Compared to oil, ether processes interactions on the Ethereum blockchain, which is best known for offering a variety of DeFi programs such as loan, trading and forecasting markets. Ethereum-based applications create a natural utility for ether, as the cryptocurrency is needed to complete transactions. DeFi coins followed the closing step with ether, as shown by the DeFi Pulse Index (DPI), by 83% in the last 30 days, according to Index Coop.
Using the Ethereum 2.0 network also creates a supply shock of digital asset supports. Eth 2.0 is an ongoing redesign of the Ethereum network based on a new consensus mechanism called proof-of-stake (PoS) and database separation. About 2.7% of ether worth $ 6 billion was deposited on the Eth 2.0 blockchain. The funds will be further closed for approximately the next 12 months.
Finally, large investors such as investment funds may be interested in gaining exposure to the cryptocurrency. On February 8, CME launched cash-settled futures contracts for the digital asset. The contracts exceeded $ 160 billion in total volume within the first week. As the CME is one of the oldest and most reliable exchanges in the US, the launch of the contract there could possibly indicate growing institutional acceptance for ether.