Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Nov.3: Ether, world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, surpassed its previous high on Wednesday, catching up to bitcoin’s gain and riding on rumours of more blockchain usage.
In Asian hours, the Ether token, which supports the Ethereum blockchain network, climbed to $4,643 (approximately Rs. 3.45 lakh), breaking over the previous day’s high of $4,600 (about Rs. 3.42 lakh) and extending the week’s gains to more than 10%. As of 1:30pm IST on November 3, the price of Ethereum in India was Rs. 3.62 lakh.
Other tokens on the base layer of blockchain networks, known as Layer 1 networks, have gained traction in the days after Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, achieved a record high of $67,016.5 (approximately Rs. 49 lakh) on October 20. As of 1:30 p.m. IST on November 3, the price of bitcoin in India was Rs. 49.7 lakh.
Bitcoin (BTC) was selling at over $63,078 (around Rs. 47 lakh) and has increased by 117 percent this year, while ether has increased by six-fold.
“Ethereum’s strength has been rising in lockstep with BTC and other majors since the market reversal at the end of September,” said Ryan Rabaglia, managing director and global head of trading at digital asset platform OSL.
“For what we anticipate will be a significant shift in a potentially extended market mood uplift, Ethereum has been the obvious winner of the Layer-1s. Ethereum will also continue to play a key role in the development of the NFT and metaverse ecosystems,” he stated.
Since October, several blockchain tokens, including Bitcoin and Ether, have risen due to a steady stream of news on cryptocurrency adoption by banks, the growth of non-fungible tokens on virtual gaming platforms, the launch of Bitcoin futures-based US ETFs, and a need among investors for diversification in an uncertain interest rate environment.
After Facebook relaunched as Meta to focus on establishing the “metaverse,” a shared virtual world, smaller tokens have received increased interest as well.
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Australia’s largest bank, announced on Wednesday that it will be the country’s first to offer crypto services to retail customers.
According to CryptoCompare, the value of digital investment products under management (AUM) increased by 45.5 percent in October to a new high of $74.7 billion (roughly Rs. 5,56,685 crore). Bitcoin-based funds’ overall AUM surged 52.2 percent to $55.2 billion (approximately Rs. 4,11,310 crore), while Ethereum-based funds’ AUM increased 30 percent to $15.9 billion (about Rs. 1,18,475 crore), both new highs.
