Ether, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, surpassed its previous high on Wednesday, catching up to bitcoin’s gain and riding on rumours of more blockchain usage.
In Asian hours, the ether token, which powers the ethereum blockchain network, climbed to $4,643, surpassing the previous day’s high of $4,600 and extending the week’s gains to more than 10%.
Other tokens on the base layer of blockchain networks, known as Layer 1 networks, have gained traction in the days after bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, hit a record high of $67,016.5 on Oct. 20.
“The correlation of crypto versus equities and risk-on sentiments is tremendous,” said Danny Chong, CEO of Tranchess, a decentralised asset tracking platform.
“With the lack of negative news, everyone is expecting a bull run,” Chong said. “Ask what can bring it down to determine the depth of the change.”
Bitcoin (BTC) was selling at $63,078 and has increased by 117 percent this year, while ether has increased by six-fold.
“Ethereum’s strength has been rising in lockstep with BTC and other majors since the market reversal at the end of September,” said Ryan Rabaglia, managing director and global head of trading at digital asset platform OSL.
“For what we anticipate will be a significant shift in a potentially extended market mood uplift, Ethereum has been the obvious winner of the Layer-1s. Ethereum will also continue to play a key role in the development of the NFT and metaverse ecosystems “he stated
Since October, several blockchain tokens, including bitcoin and ether, have risen due to a steady stream of news on cryptocurrency adoption by banks, the growth of non-fungible tokens on virtual gaming platforms, the launch of bitcoin futures-based U.S. ETFs, and a need among investors for diversification in an uncertain interest rate environment.
After Facebook Inc. (FB.O) relaunched as Meta to focus on establishing the “metaverse,” a shared virtual world, smaller tokens have received increased interest as well.
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Australia’s largest bank, announced on Wednesday that it will be the country’s first to offer crypto services to retail customers.
According to CryptoCompare, the value of digital investment products under management (AUM) increased by 45.5 percent in October to a new high of $74.7 billion. The total AUM for bitcoin-based products surged by 52.2 percent to $55.2 billion, while the AUM for ethereum-based funds increased by 30% to $15.9 billion, both of which are new highs.