Just four days in the new year and all major coins are surging into new prices. Bitcoin already has an impressive 2021, hitting the $34,000 price line, further establishing itself as the largest digital asset globally. Ethereum, the altcoin behind Bitcoin, with a market cap of $63 billion, is also starting January on a great start.
Around early December last year, the digital asset was continually dropping, which is linked to the second wave of Covid-19 around that time. It struggled to stay around the $590 price tag before its incredible $1000 price range in 2021. A reason some suggest linked to the surge is PayPal’s execution of last year’s proposal to infuse cryptocurrency into its payment system.
Ethereum pave the way for altcoins
In January 2018, ETH had its first taste of the $1000 price tag. Due to cryptocurrency’s volatility, the expected price correction came in, knocking almost $500 off its value. As of late 2020, it was trading around $580-620, showing that not much happened since ETH’s iconic moment in 2018.
Last year held so much uncertainty for cryptocurrencies, especially the altcoins, which were struggling to survive since the pandemic almost wrecked even Bitcoin, with its price dropping to $3,000. Altcoins performed much worse before some control took place as regards the pandemic.
Things are looking really good for ETH. Not too long, it attained the $800 tag, to surge further and exceed 2018’s position. It is not surprising Ethereum is performing so well lately since Bitcoin’s constant surge every week with unbelievable new prices attracting more investors leading to higher prices.
Investors are reducing their dependence on gold and investing the money in digital gold, Bitcoin. The digital asset broke lots of records last year, with the pandemic having minimal effect on its performance.
Possible reasons behind the surge
There are signs of HODling of the digital asset amongst crucial players of the industry. Ethereum released a new platform named ETH 2.0, which fully adopts a new technology that promises more straightforward and simplified mining processes.
The scalability issues the platform once suffered is a primary reason why the adoption is essential to reduce the hassles for people who are not technologically inclined. There is a strong possibility that the coin exceeds its January $1,432, which is the highest the altcoin has attained since its existence.
Based on Bitcoin’s success, people are investing in smaller digital assets that will one day perform like the former. Dogecoin, the meme-inspired cryptocurrency, surged a day after the new year, so did Litecoin, attaining the position of the world’s fourth-largest crypto, kicking XRP to the fifth position.
Unlike most digital assets skyrocketing to new prices, XRP keeps falling and losing investors for fear of Ripple’s future. Despite the unfortunate lawsuit, 2021 began on a good note for most digital assets, with larger investors rushing to get their share of holdings since their continuous surge. Some claims opine that crypto prices will continue to break old records.
