Ethereum (ETH), the second largest cryptocurrency, is on a bull run past the $3000 mark, hitting its all-time high. As of this writing, it is hovering between $3160- $3170. The price increase for the past seven days was recorded approximately at 27% and was trading at 7.8% for the past 24 hours. There isn't any indication of anything stopping it in its tracks. The John Wick of cryptocurrencies has finally arrived!
One of the reasons behind this phenomenal rise was speculated as institutional buying. Just yesterday, a tweet from CryptoQuant CEO Per Ki-Young Ju suggested that over 400,000 ETH flowed out of Coinbase, one of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges. Are these "whales" speculating on an impending moon landing for ETH? No one knows. Another reason for its dynamic growth is its scalability and versatility. Unlike the Bitcoin blockchain, tech companies are able to capitalize on the ETH blockchain which allow them to build their applications and algorithms on top of it. These can be experienced on Ethereum-powered tools and services. Decentralized applications or Dapps, have become known for their excellent implementation on the Ethereum network. Examples are Uniswap, Dark Forest and Foundation, to mention a few.
Hence, the Ethereum blockchain may be considered as one of the most versatile system that we have today. A significant update such as the Berlin Hard Fork which went live on April 15, 2021 featured several improvements. These include a beefier security and four Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) aimed to dramatically lower gas fees in more efficient ways. Next step for the blockchain would be the highly anticipated London Hard Fork, which is under development. These and other improvements in the pipeline shall lead to the full implementation of Ethereum 2.0.
With these developments, old investors are probably holding on to their Ethers tighter than ever. On the other hand, prospective investors might think that investing is a little too late for them. The crypto industry is still in its formative stage. While economic experts would normally advice to "invest only in money that you can afford to lose", it can be interpreted as an assumption that new investors coming into the industry are likely to experiment and fail in the process. Nonetheless, history revealed that certain people who held on to their coins have benefitted much to the amazement of traditional economists.
Perhaps money have been lost from that family guy who bought two pizzas for 10,000 BTC in 2010, which became known as the famous Bitcoin Pizza Day However, the guy had no regrets and was happy with his purchase. So, let's leave him at that.
