Ether, the No. 2 crypto, hit a record above $2,100 as bitcoin trades near $60,000 on Good Friday

Ether, the No. 2 crypto, hit a record above $2,100 as bitcoin trades near $60,000 on Good Friday

The world’s second-most prominent crypto on Friday touched a fresh record above $2,100.

Ether ETHUSD, -2.07% , running atop the ethereum blockchain, were recently up 6% at around $2,087 after touching an all-time high at $2,105.68 Friday, according to CoinDesk. That is handily above its Feb. 20 record at $2,036.55 put.

Gains for the crypto, which is known for its ability to allow smart contracts to be coded into the ethereum protocol, comes as Visa Inc. V, +2.42% has become the first major payment platform to use USD Coin, a stablecoin backed by the U.S. dollar, to settle crypto transactions over the ethereum blockchain.

Visa users will be able to exchange USD Coin over the credit card’s payment network to clear transactions made in fiat currency, a move that is viewed as bridging the gap between traditional currencies and crypto.

The move by the payment processor highlights growing use of decentralized finance applications, largely operating within the ethereum network, to create new, blockchain-related applications that take advantage of smart contracts.

Decentralized finance networks, or DeFi, enable users to conduct transactions without an intermediary and have widely been considered one of the most significant appeals of cryptographic assets.

“Over the last year, more than $45 billion worth of user funds have been locked into Ethereum-based applications that fall under this new DeFi category, which seeks to recreate traditional financial products in decentralized ways,” wrote Sergey Nazarov, the co-Founder of Chainlink, a gateway network that allows smart contracts to access real-time data outside their network.

The promise for the utility of smart contracts and DeFi have supported the view held by some that ethereum could one day rival bitcoin prices.

“Basically, there’s a decentralized Wall Street blooming on top of ethereum that’s currently growing faster than any other sector in the entire cryptocurrency industry, and it all requires ETH to function, likely explaining a good portion of the increased attention on the asset,” Nazarov said.

Meanwhile, bitcoin prices BTCUSD, +1.95% were seeing muted trade, changing hands at around $58,000, beneath its all-time high at $61,556.59, according to CoinDesk.

Optimism around bitcoin and the broader crypto sector has been centered on increased institutional adoption of digital assets as alternatives to gold and other commodities.

On top of that, a report late this week points to an initial public offering of Coinbase Global Inc. COIN, +3.70% , which plans to go public on April 14 under the ticker symbol “Coin” via a direct listing on the Nasdaq Inc. NDAQ, +2.30%

Coinbase founded in 2012 provides crypto trading services for institutional and retail clients and is considered the largest digital exchange platform in the U.S.

Ether rises to a record high as crypto rally broadens beyond Bitcoin

Ether , the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, rose to a record high as the rally in digital assets continues to broaden beyond Bitcoin.

The digital token for the Ethereum network gained 6.2% on Friday and reached as high as $2,144 on Saturday. It has nearly tripled this year, and first topped $2,000 briefly on an intraday basis in February. The Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto Index gained about 3% Friday, while Bitcoin was little changed after more than doubling this year.

“The latest backing from Visa Inc. appears to be giving the bulls a new reason to persist in their stride," said Konstantin Anissimov, executive director at cryptocurrency exchange CEX.IO. The trend could send Ethereum above $2,100 in the coming days, he said.

Visa said this past week that its payments network will use USD Coin to settle transactions over Ethereum, which has helped boost sentiment. Also, billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban’s comments about owning the digital asset and that it’s closest “to a true currency" have increased interest, in addition to the ongoing upgrade of the network, according to Greg Waisman, co-founder and COO of the global payment network Mercuryo.

The token has mirrored the gains in Bitcoin over the past year amid a flood of stimulus aimed at boosting the global economy during the Covid-19 pandemic. Critics warn that crypto is a speculative bubble that will likely burst.

Crypto Coin Outperforming Bitcoin Is About to See Supply Reduced

Ether has a market value of about $230 billion, compared with about $1.1 trillion for Bitcoin, according to data from CoinMarketCap.com.

“We’re now really breaking higher and that will very likely attract buying activity," said Julius de Kempenaer, senior analyst at StockCharts.com. “Ether is gaining in relative strength versus Bitcoin."

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