By Ritvik Carvalho and Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Cryptocurrency ether hit another record high on Wednesday, taking gains this year to close to 500% on the back of growing interest in decentralized finance applications and increasing institutional interest in cryptocurrencies. Ether, the second-biggest cryptocurrency by market capitalization after bitcoin, climbed to $4,380.64.35, but was last down 4.1% at $4,029. Bitcoin was also down more than 4% at $54,188. Ether has jumped about 470% against the dollar this year as the ethereum blockchain becomes more widely used by peer-to-peer - or decentralised - cryptocurrency platforms that enable crypto-denominated lending outside of traditional banking institutions. The surge has also seen ether - which in the crypto world is also widely referred to as ethereum - outperform bitcoin, which has almost doubled in price this year as larger investors warm to the emerging technology.
Ether Price Hits Record High as 2021 Gains Near 500 Percent
The surge has also seen Ether - which in the crypto world is also widely referred to as Ethereum - outperform Bitcoin. By Reuters | Updated: 13 May 2021 10:37 IST
Ether has jumped about 470 percent against dollar this year as Ethereum blockchain becomes widely used
Highlights
Pace of evolution in the Ethereum market has remained rapid
US regulators warned investors on Tuesday over risks of Bitcoin futures
Cryptocurrency Ether hit another record high on Wednesday, taking gains this year to close to 500 percent on the back of growing interest in decentralised finance applications and increasing institutional interest in cryptocurrencies.
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There’s a new cryptocurrency in town. Chia is a new cryptocurrency positioning itself as an eco-friendly alternative to bitcoin. Activists have been speaking out against the environmental impacts of cryptocurrencies.
Chia also runs on a blockchain like bitcoin, but its founder claims it has a smaller carbon footprint. The Chia Network was founded by Bram Cohen, who also invented BitTorrent. Traditional cryptocurrency relies on computer servers to verify transactions. Chia relies on empty computer storage space for its process, instead of energy-intensive processes that Ethereum and Bitcoin use.
This crypto claims to solve bitcoin’s biggest problem
Bitcoin may be the king of cryptocurrencies, but it’s facing an environmental backlash over the energy-intensive technology underpinning it.
A new crypto called chia says it’s the eco-friendly alternative.
Like most digital currencies, chia runs on a decentralized ledger system known as blockchain. But unlike bitcoin, chia, which was founded by the inventor of BitTorrent, claims it has a much smaller carbon footprint with its mining process of verifying and recording transactions.
Chia logged its first trades this week, joining a crowded crypto scene at a time of frenzied investor interest in alternative digital assets.