Ether Continues to Outclass Gains of Bitcoin, which Hits New Record High of $22,265

As Bitcoin (BTC) continues to record fresh all-time highs, other altcoins are following suit. Specifically, Ether (ETH) has hit new YTD (year-to-date) high following the announcement that CME (Chicago Mercantile Exchange) intends to roll out ETH futures contracts next year.

Bitcoin (BTC), at the time of writing this article, has gained 14.1% in the last 24 hours to trade at $22,169.

With several crypto traders, enthusiasts and even institutions tracking Bitcoin closely, Ether (ETH) has also hit fresh yearly highs after appreciating 8.5% yesterday. The price hit an intra-day high of $656 today on BitMEX exchange, before cooling down to $644, reflecting a gain of 9% in the last 24 hours.

The uptrend followed announcement that CME aims to roll out ETH futures in 2021, subject to regulatory endorsement. It reflected robust client demand for the investment vehicle. Back in December 2017, CME introduced Bitcoin futures contracts. Interestingly, the rally fizzled out in the same month.

There are crypto analysts who forecast sharp increase in the price of Ether from current level. For example, Twitter user who goes by the name ‘Altcoin Sherpa’ pointed out that ETH has started multi-month appreciation earlier this month. Interestingly, the cryptocurrency has recorded minimum gains of 100% per year since 2017. Analysts forecast that Ether will soon exceed $1,000, a price level seen three years before.

Popular Ether bull ‘wolfofethereum.eth’ pondered that “the $ETH show is just getting started,” underlining that Ether has eclipsed Bitcoin by 185% in the last 12 months.

Anthony Sassano, product marketing manager of Set Protocol, has tweeted an image equating the metrics of Ethereum, when it previously breached $500 and the current scenario, pointing to a 900% rise in active coders, roughly 80% rise in 24-hour transaction volume, 60% growth in active addresses and a 150% rise in hash rate of the network.

Open short positions on ETH/BTC pair is currently at historical lows, implying that markets anticipate Ether (ETH) to surpass gains of Bitcoin in the predictable future. Interestingly, long positions in the ETH/BTC pair are near their peak since February 2018.