The value of the cryptocurrency market topped $2 trillion for the first time on Monday, driven by a rally in the second-largest digital coin, ether. The market capitalization of the cryptocurrency industry has now doubled in just over two months.
The rally in ether saw it hit an all-time high of $2,151.25 on Tuesday morning and is now up over 180% year-to-date.
Ether is drawing interest among companies, with Chinese app maker Meitu acquiring $22.1 million worth of the digital token last month.
Billionaire investor Mark Cuban, who owns ether, said it is the “closest we have to a true currency.”
Ether’s rise comes amid growing excitement about the use of the digital token in so-called decentralized finance.
Ethereum also has the underlying technology behind the recent craze in non-fungible tokens or NFT’s
Ether’s rise follows a similar rally in bitcoin, which accounts for over 50% of the crypto market capitalization, hitting a record above $61,000 last month. Major Cryptocurrencies are currently mixed. ETHUSD is up 0.17%, BTCUSD is down 0.88%
