Bitcoin has been doing relatively well, as of late. The world’s number one cryptocurrency by market has surged beyond $9,500 for the first time in well over a week, and the bullish train its riding doesn’t appear to be running out of steam anytime soon. However, bitcoin’s recent gains don’t even compare to the run Ethereum is enjoying.
Ethereum: Today’s Crypto King?
ETH is the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap and the number one competitor to bitcoin. At the time of writing, one unit of ETH is trading for just under $240, meaning it’s gained nearly $20 since Friday. At that time, the asset was trading for about $220, the first time it had hit this mark in about three months. In addition, that spike to $220 was a jump from the currency’s previous $208.
But these are just what the currency is experiencing now. For much of May, Ethereum has enjoyed a relatively impressive run. The asset rose as much as 16 percent last week alone, while spiking as much as 12 percent for the month of May when compared to the figures it saw in April, making bitcoin’s relative spikes of about eight percent and 9.5 percent seem small.
And the good news is that Ethereum is expected to keep this track record going, as June tends to be a relatively bullish month for most forms of crypto. Now that the first of the month has arrived, industry leaders believe ETH will fire past present resistance levels, largely thanks to the new proof of stake (PoS) blockchain model it’s set to carry.
Up to this point, Ethereum has operated under a proof of work (PoW) model, which for the most part, has served the currency well. Thanks to excess traffic and popularity, however, the currency’s network is being bogged down with excess congestion, high gas fees and slow transactions. The currency simply cannot deal with the extraordinary number of new coins and projects being built atop its blockchain, and co-founder Vitalik Buterin has referred to the ETH blockchain as unscalable for the time being.
Ethereum is now set to undergo a change. Known as Ethereum 2.0, the new blockchain model will allegedly make the currency’s network for more usable. 2.0 is expected to be launched sometime in the third quarter of 2020.
The Run May Go On
But that’s not all ETH has going for it. Present political tensions and an unstable economy in the U.S. and abroad are making several individuals see ETH and other forms of crypto in a different light. Users are now stocking up like there’s no tomorrow. Matthew Dibb – co-founder of Stack – explained in an interview:
Global tensions and uncertainties have intensified over the past week, and further support the [crypto] narrative as an alternative investment to protect downside risks.
