Ethereum hits $4000: The world’s second-largest cryptocurrency explodes above $4,000 for the first time

Just last week, we wrote about Ethereum after the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency reached a record high of near $2,800. Now, Ether (Ethereum network’s native currency) has risen nearly 7% over the last 24 hours to a record high of $4,141.99 and almost triple its previous record when we wrote about it on January 19 of this year.

Back then, Ethereum closed at an all-time high of $1,439 beating bitcoin in daily transactions. Also in January, the Ethereum network now processes $3 billion more in daily transactions, compared to Bitcoin. Also known as an altcoin, Ethereum is one of many alternatives to bitcoin. To date, Ether has almost quadruple in market value.

While mainstream investors and some corporate buyers like Tesla flocked to bitcoin, more and more people now think Ethereum has more potential because the Ethereum blockchain network powers many of today’s crypto transactions. For example, Ethereum has several software developers building apps on its network. Ether is the native token of the Ethereum blockchain.

The same goes for the popular non-fungible tokens (NFTs), digital assets meant to represent ownership of rare virtual items like art and sports memorabilia, which are also processed on the Ethereum network.

In addition, with the ongoing major upgrade to Ethereum protocols, Ethereum will enable faster transaction rates and reduce the amount of power required to process transactions.

One more good news for Ethereum. This week, The European Investment Bank issued its first-ever digital bond on the Ethereum blockchain, Ethereum’s underlying network. This led to speculation that the currency is gaining traction among mainstream financial institutions.

Ethereum was founded in 2013 by Russian programmer Vitalik Buterin when he was just 19 years old. Since then, the Ethereum network is used by thousands of software developers.