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Ethereum price surge: Cryptocurrency soars to record high, outperforming bitcoin

‘At this pace, a ride to $3,000 in the short term and $5,000 in the long term is imminent,’ predicts one crypto expert

Anthony Cuthbertson
Thursday 29 April 2021 17:02 BST
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The price of ethereum (ether) has hit a new all-time high, bucking broader crypto market trends to outperform bitcoin.

The cryptocurrency reached above $2,795 on Friday, according to CoinMarketCap, and was continuing to rise towards $2,800 at the time of writing.

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It is the third time in as many days that it has reached a new peak, pushing its overall market value is now $322 billion – roughly one third of bitcoin’s market cap.

Less than one year ago, ethereum was trading below $200.

Other major cryptocurrencies to see significant gains over the last 24 hours include cardano (ADA) and Binance Coin, which both rose by around 7 per cent.

Some market analysts have attributed ethereum’s staggering price rally to its underlying technology, which is powering a number of DeFi (decentralised finance) applications.

“Buyers do not want to pass off the opportunity to be a part of a new full-blown rally to highly ambitious price levels as fuelled by these and more factors,” Petr Kozyakov, co-founder and CEO at the global payment network Mercuryo, told The Independent.

“At this pace, a ride to $3,000 in the short term and $5,000 in the long term is imminent.”

Konstantin Anissimov, Executive Director at the cryptocurrency exchange CEX.IO, added: “Ethereum has shown that it has broken free from the dominance effect of bitcoin. Investors are particularly excited as the gas fees in the network hit three-month lows according to on-chain data, restoring the overall attractiveness of the network.

“The reaction to this is a buyup and bolstered by further network upgrades that are billed to drastically reduce the blockchain’s transaction costs. Sustenance of this current buying action will see the price of ethereum to hit its $3,000 target in the next couple of days.”

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