BackWhy cryptocurrency ether's price has rallied 50% in 7 days, outperforming Bitcoin
Cryptocurrency Ether is extending a rally that began last week
PremiumCryptocurrency ether has rallied more than 50% in the last seven days and currently hovering at $1,558 level, as per CoinGecko, outperforming the world's top and most popular token Bitcoin that is up about 20% in a week.
Ether, the second largest cryptocurrency and the coin lined to the ethereum blockchain, is extending a rally that began last week after developers of the Ethereum blockchain gave a target for the long-anticipated software update that is projected to lower the network’s energy usage.
“Ethereum has soared more than 45% over the past week, outperforming the market. There might be many reasons for the surge, but one of the prominent reasons could be the Merge. The market's overall momentum appears to be bullish as investors' sentiment continues to rise," said Edul Patel, CEO and co-founder of global crypto investing platform Mudrex.
Last week, Ethereum Foundation member Tim Beiko suggested September 19 as the provisional launch date for the Merge. The Merge represents the joining of the existing execution layer of Ethereum (the Mainnet we use today) with its new proof-of-stake consensus layer, the Beacon Chain. It eliminates the need for energy-intensive mining and instead secures the network using staked ETH.
Soon, the current Ethereum Mainnet will merge with the Beacon Chain proof-of-stake system. This will mark the end of proof-of-work for Ethereum, and the full transition to proof-of-stake. This sets the stage for future scaling upgrades including sharding. The Merge will reduce Ethereum's energy consumption by around 99.95%, it claims in its website.
Ethereum is a blockchain-based software platform that can be used for sending and receiving value globally with its native cryptocurrency, ether. First proposed in 2013 by Russian-Canadian computer programmer Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum was designed to expand the utility of cryptocurrencies by allowing developers to create Ethereum-based applications, called ‘decentralized applications,’ or dapps.
Ether, which is the second largest cryptocurrency, has declined over 58% in 2022 (YTD) so far, and is trading far away from its all-time record high of $4,878 it had hit in November last year.
The rally in cryptocurrency prices continued today, which took Bitcoin out of a one-month-old trading range and ignited big jumps in smaller tokens commonly referred to as altcoins.
(With inputs from agencies)
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