Ethereum Sets New Record High Above $4,000

Chris Williams

May. 10, 2021

Ethereum’s rally continues: ETH is trading above $4,000 for the first time.

After Bitcoin, Institutions Finally Turning to Ethereum

Shutterstock cover by macondo

Key Takeaways

ETH has set a new all-time high price above $4,000.
The second crypto has been rising at a rapid pace for weeks. It’s outperforming Bitcoin by some distance.
Although a correction may be overdue, Ethereum still has a big few months ahead with EIP-1559 and Proof-of-Stake looming.

Thanks to its latest run, Ethereum is catching up with Bitcoin.

ETH in Repricing Mode

ETH crossed $4,000 early Monday and is currently trading at $4,104.

The number two crypto has enjoyed a major rally relative to the rest of the market recently. It’s up 38.8% in the last week, outperforming other large-cap coins like BTC, BNB, and XRP. The ETH:BTC ratio crossed 0.07 today for the first time since July 2018.

ETH has undergone a violent repricing during what might be its most significant year of development to date.

This summer, ETH faces deflationary pressure when it ships its highly anticipated EIP-1559 update. It’s scheduled for Jul. 14. Proof-of-Stake is expected to follow later this year, leading Ethereum on a path to scalability and reducing its environmental impact. As a sign of the market’s optimism for ETH, the Deribit exchange added $50,000 strike options earlier today, the highest strike price ETH has ever seen.

Open interest in CME’s ETH futures has also risen, suggesting that institutions are paying attention to the asset’s recent performance.

We've introduced the 50k strike in the March 2022 expiry!

The highest strike in the history of $ETH🚀

— Deribit (@DeribitExchange) May 10, 2021

The rally puts Ethereum’s market cap at $475 billion, which is just short of the likes of Visa, JP Morgan & Chase. Ahead of all of them, Bitcoin’s market cap is roughly $1.1 trillion.

The global cryptocurrency market cap has touched $2.6 trillion amid the market-wide frenzy. While ETH has taken the spotlight, several 2017-era projects like ETC, EOS, BCH, and LTC have also jumped. With so much heat across the market, a correction may soon be due.

Disclosure: At the time of writing, the author of this feature owned ETH, FLI, and several other cryptocurrencies.

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