Ethereum Crosses $1150 after 30% Jump, Bitcoin Consolidates

Ethereum, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency recorded significant gains over the weekend as the ETH price reached $1,150, its highest level in nearly 3 years. Bitcoin is currently consolidating near $32,000 after breaching the $34,000 mark on Sunday.

The cryptocurrency market gained significant value in the last 7 days as the overall market cap jumped from $720 billion to $870 billion. Ethereum has been the best performer among major cryptocurrencies as the price of ETH surged nearly 50% since the last week.

As of writing, Ethereum is trading around $1,050 with a total market cap of $120 billion. Bitcoin reached an all-time high on Sunday when the price jumped above $34,000. The total market cap of Bitcoin currently stands at around $600 billion. More than Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway.

Finance Magnates earlier reported that the price of Ethereum surged more than Bitcoin in 2020 and the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency recorded a 450% gain last year, compared to the 300% gain posted by Bitcoin.

Ethereum’s Network Upgrade and Institutional Adoption

The upgrade of the Ethereum network with the launch of Beacon Chain, large support from the ETH community, and institutional demand played an important role in the recent price rally. After reaching $1,150, the price saw a dip but managed to stay above the $1,000 level due to significant demand. Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum recently published a post and summarized the bull case for cryptocurrencies. “One of the more underrated bull cases for cryptocurrency that I have always believed is simply the fact that gold is lame, the younger generations realize that it’s lame and that $9 trillion has to go somewhere,” Buterin mentioned.

“If you are still operating today precisely according to a script that was created in 2009 when the Great Financial Crisis was the most recent pivotal event on anyone’s mind, then there are almost certainly important things that happened in the last decade that you are missing. An ideology that’s finished is an ideology that’s dead,” the Ethereum co-founder added.