Zooming out over a five-year period, ETH’s total returns stand at 17,962%, while BTC has gained 5,119%.
Institutional interest in Ether is growing, according to Coinbase.
In a report recapping market activity in the first half of 2021, the exchange revealed that ETH trading volumes hit $1.4 trillion over this period — a 1,461% increase when compared with the same period a year earlier.
Although BTC’s trading volumes stood at a much higher $2.1 trillion between January and June, this is just 489% higher than the same period in 2020.
All of this came as ETH wrapped up an astounding 12 months up to June 2021 — with the cryptocurrency’s value surging by 895% over this period. By comparison, BTC’s gains were a more modest but still impressive 210%.
When zooming out over a five-year period, ETH’s total returns stand at 17,962%, while BTC has gained 5,119%. The authors of the Coinbase report added:
“Many of our largest institutional clients, including hedge funds, endowments, and corporates, increased or added first-time exposure to ETH in H1, believing the asset has long-term staying power tantamount to BTC’s, while playing a differentiated role in their portfolios.”
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What’s Driving ETH Right Now
There are several factors that are being attributed for ETH’s remarkable surge: The recent bull run in the crypto markets, healthy demand for NFTs, and rising demand for decentralized finance protocols.
Coinbase said the increasing use of Ethereum-based DeFi protocols “validates the network’s value as a global financial utility and platform for developers.”
The exchange’s report added that there is growing investor optimism in the upcoming switch to a Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism, which will turn ETH into a yielding asset. Other upbeat developments include the imminent introduction of EIP-1559, which will help make ETH deflationary, and scalability solutions that are helping to alleviate congestion.
