By
Steve Muchoki
April 19th, 2024
As BTC continues to hit new all-time highs, Ethereum (ETH) has also joined the rally surging past $725 levels in a strong bull run. Analysts say that the Ethereum journey is just getting started and 2021 could be an even bigger year for the crypto asset.
Bitcoin (BTC) has swayed investors by hitting its all-time high above $28,000 on Sunday, December 27. However, Ethereum (ETH) has been following the cue with a strong surge northwards. At press time, ETH price has surged 12.14% trading at $725 levels with a market cap of $81 billion. It is for the first time that ETH price has surged past $700 levels in the last two years since 2018 and it is said that Ethereum may have a good 2021.
With its latest price surge, Ethereum (ETH) takes its weekly gains to above 10%. ETH has been one of the best performing cryptocurrencies for 2020. At over 450% year-to-date returns, ETH has outperformed several other cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin (BTC).
Even at the current price, Ethereum is almost trading at a 50% discount from its all-time high in January 2018. While Bitcoin (BTC) has already moved up 40% from its 2017-high of $20,000, Ethereum has got some catching up to do here. Analysts are predicting that 2021 could be the year for Ethereum (ETH) looking at the overall developments and growing institutional interest.
At its current price of $710, investors can still buy $ETH for more than 50% off its previous ATH.
Considering (1) how correlated BTC and ETH are historically, and (2) how BTC has already surpassed its ATH, it’s arguably the best risk-return right now in crypto.
— Spencer Noon 🕛 (@spencernoon) December 28, 2020
Just at the time when BTC cools-off, we could probably see a rally coming ahead in the altcoins market and Ethereum could be gaining the most from it.
Rising Institutional Interest for Ethereum (ETH) Ahead of Upcoming 2021
Apart from Bitcoin, Ethereum (ETH) also remains on the institutional radar. The Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE) has seen good money inflows over the last few months. The total assets under management for ETHE are currently $1.7 billion from its latest update. Moreover, ETHE is the second largest crypto fund from Grayscale after Bitcoin’s.
12/24/20 UPDATE: Net Assets Under Management, Holdings per Share, and Market Price per Share for our Investment Products.
Total AUM: $16.3 billion$BTC $BCH $ETH $ETC $ZEN $LTC $XLM $XRP $ZEC pic.twitter.com/0MZaRcwMJD
— Grayscale (@Grayscale) December 24, 2020
On the other hand, CME Group has also announced its plans to launch Ethereum Futures in February 2021. This is a big development as it could bring Ethereum (ETH) to the mainstream financial markets. Just like the Bitcoin futures, the CME Ether futures will also be cash-settled. Thus, traders won’t need to hold actual ETH in their wallets.
In a recent development, tech giant Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) announced that it will be leveraging the Ethereum network to solve complex business challenges. as reported by CoinTelegraph, it will specifically use the Ethereum blockchain for royalties management and gaming rights.
Over the recent Bitcoin bull run, the ETH-BTC pair has registered a sharp decline. Thus, even after today’s 10% price rally, ETH still isn’t within the overbought regions. Possibly, the ETH price is heading to above $800 levels in the coming days. It will be interesting to see at what levels Ethereum closes this historic year of 2020 for the crypto market.
The price of ether relative to #bitcoin is on a six month low pic.twitter.com/UaJxTo0sXI
— skew (@skewdotcom) December 25, 2020
For more news from the crypto world, please, follow the link.