While much of the media and public attention has been understandably focused on Bitcoin in recent months, a far more dramatic move has taken place in Bitcoin’s less popular peer, Ethereum. To be sure, one month ago, when we noticed the first tangible move higher in ETH since last summer’s dramatic plunge following a highly public hacking scandal which involved a “forking” in the blockchain, we mused if China’s furious momentum chasers were turning their attention from bitcoin to ethereum.
Did China shift from BTC to ETH
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) February 14, 2017
While the jury is still out on whether Chinese traders have shifted their attention to the less popular digital currency, this morning Ethereum surpassed all-time highs and was trading above $30. As of publication time, the blockchain-based unit had soared by over a third in just the past 24 hours according to Coinbase and CoinGecko …
And had more than tripled since the start of the year.
The recent surge in Ethereum began on February 27, when as we reported the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance was launched, a project focussing on Blockchain propagation and innovation for international business which includes such members as JPM, Intel and Microsoft.
Curiously, another big move took place after the rejection of the Bitcoin ETF by the SEC late on Friday, when various “altcoins” experienced a slight drop followed by a sweeping comeback, as some speculated that public attention could now shift to various Bitcoin competitors.
That said, some have expressed skepticism if the current rally can persist, most notably leading Ethereum developer Vlad Zamfir, who last week wrote that Ethereum “euphoria” could soon end due to the prospect of another hard fork. “I am not feeling any euphoria anymore. I am mostly filled with concern about how everything could go horribly wrong,” he warned.
