Bitcoin slows as Ethereum hits record highs beyond $3K
As the crypto market races back towards all-time highs, Ethereum is shooting ahead. The second-largest crypto has gained over 20% to top $3K for the first time.
Close behind, the altcoin market has been supercharged by Ethereum’s strength. Chainlink, XRP, and BNB are surging with double-digit weekly gains, and Uniswap has jumped 17% ahead of the Uniswap v3 launch on May 5th.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin has moved higher to reclaim the $58K level, boosted by news that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates near zero and continue injecting money into the economy.
This Week’s Highlights
- Ethereum outpaces Bitcoin
- Bitcoin dominance drops to lowest level in three years
Ethereum outpaces Bitcoin
Ethereum’s outperformance of Bitcoin over the last week reflects a similar situation over the year so far, with Ethereum boasting 300% return in the first four months of 2021, while Bitcoin gained 95%.
The surge this week could have been catalyzed by the official lending arm of the European Union—the European Investment Bank— which announced that it has issued $121M in digital bonds on Ethereum.
Higher prices could also be supported by network growth: Daily Ethereum transactions hit a new all-time high of 1.58M on April 22nd, and the total value locked in Ethereum’s decentralized finance ecosystem crossed $7B for the first time last week.
Bitcoin dominance drops to lowest level in three years
As Ethereum surges and Bitcoin lingers below record highs, Bitcoin’ share of the market has dropped below 50% for the first time in nearly three years.
The low dominance level shows that Bitcoin’s share of the cryptocurrency market is falling, while the share of Ethereum and altcoins is growing. This suggests traders are shifting focus,
pouring profits from Bitcoin into assets like Chainlink and BNB that have made double-digit gains in the past week.
When this metric dropped to similarly low levels in 2017, we subsequently saw a massive altcoin rally, followed by a further Bitcoin rally.
The week ahead
After Japanese gaming giant Nexon revealed $100M Bitcoin holdings last week, hopes are high that another large corporate crypto purchase could be discovered in the dozens of earnings expected in the week ahead, from General Motors to Uber and PayPal. Such news could help Bitcoin steal the limelight back from Ethereum, and claw back towards its own all-time highs above $64K.
Meanwhile, Ethereum looks set to continue booming after cracking the key milestone of $3K. Wall Street strategist FundStrat predicted last week that the cryptoasset could could see further gains towards $10K this year.