United States, Feb 3, 2021 /AlexaBlockchain/ – The world’s second-largest cryptocurrency Ethereum price has today hit a fresh record high and crossed $1,600.
- The price of ethereum hit an all-time high of $1,600 on Wednesday, February 3, 2021, according to CoinMarketCap
- The cryptocurrency’s price is up around 30 percent in the last week
Ethereum hit another all-time high on Wednesday with the cryptocurrency now up more than 30 percent in a week.
The digital currency hit a record high of $1,605.77 at 8:15 AM (GMT-8), according to CoinMarketCap, a website that tracks the prices of the digital currency.
Ethereum is the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization behind bitcoin, with a value of $182.77 billion, CoinMarketCap data shows.
What is driving the demand / price of Ethereum?
Traders are taking renewed interest mainly to cash in on the launch of Ethereum futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange next week.
“The listing of ethereum futures on a regulated exchange should serve to enhance the crypto market structure by allowing investors to gain exposure to the second most important cryptocurrency as a diversifier to bitcoin, or for simply hedging existing ethereum exposures,” wrote JPMorgan strategists in a note to clients.
“It may be that this week’s listing of ethereum futures contracts will be followed by negative price dynamics by enabling some holders of physical ethereum to hedge their exposures,” they added.
But they continued: “a successful launch of ethereum futures this month is likely to be followed by options on ethereum futures, perhaps as early as 2022, in a similar manner to the launch of options on bitcoin futures in the first quarter of 2020”.
Led by bitcoin, cryptocurrencies are gaining traction with more mainstream investors. The euphoria boosted the total market value of all cryptocurrencies above $1 trillion for the first time earlier in January.
