While bitcoin has long dominated the digital currency space, ether has been grabbing headlines – and trading volume – this week as global market participants rally around the digital currency. The price of ether – the digital currency used by the Ethereum platform – surged by upwards of 50% in the seven days through 20th May, according to figures from US-based digital currency exchange Poloniex.
Bitcoin prices, alternatively, fluctuated less than 5% during the aforementioned time frame.
Ether had an opening value of $10 at 12:00 UTC on 13th May, additional Poloniex data reveals. The currency fell to as low as $9.78 at 08:20 UTC on 14th May, and then lingered near $10 for the next few sessions.
On 16th May, the currency began a sharp climb, culminating in it finishing the week at $14.65. Trading volume rose substantially during the week, as 24-hour volume increased from $12.1m at 11:59 pm on 12th May to $58.3m at 11:59 pm on 19th May.
Bitcoin, on the other hand, had a far less dramatic week, opening at $454.82 and spending most of the week fluctuating between $450 and $460, according to the CoinDesk USD Bitcoin Price Index (BPI) . It was on 19th May that the digital currency registered notable declines, falling to a weekly low of $435.62.
The week’s lackluster bitcoin price movements came amid very low trading volume, as Bitcoinity data points reveal market participants traded less than 8m BTC during the seven days through 20th May. DAO interest rising
Many market observers are crediting ether’s recent price increase to the rise of a distributed organization referred to as The DAO , an Ethereum-based entity which allows market participants to provide both startup businesses and projects with funding – in the form of ether – in exchange for voting rights.
“The desire for many to […]
