Ethereum Breaks $750 and Reaches New All-Time High

During the last couple of weeks, the digital currency market has been facing an incredible jump in value, given increasing user and investor interest, but also the release of bitcoin futures trading. Now, Ether, the token responsible for powering up Ethereum has reached a new all-time high, and another milestone.

With this in mind, the price of the digital currency surpassed the $600 threshold back on Tuesday, and then went on reaching even higher values. Today, Ether has been trading at values as high as $754.

It is important to point out the fact that Ether is the world’s second largest cryptocurrency in terms of its market capitalization, positioned right after the well-known bitcoin. Many economic analysts believe that the surge in price is due to Ether’s increased usage in Initial Coin Offerings, where tokens are created via the Ethereum network.

Apart from this aspect, another reason behind the price increase would be the fact that the Swiss-owned UBS company is preparing to create an Ethereum blockchain platform, in partnership with a couple of other financial giants including Barclays, KBC, Thomson Reuters, the Swiss Stock Exchange known as SIX, and Credit Suisse. So far, it has been reported that the platform will be used to help participants comply with the Directive II of the European Union Markets and Financial Instruments.

A quote from an industry expert mentions that: "Ethereum as a clear number two in the space is an obvious choice to receive the same treatment and have futures listed. It would be no surprise if these plans were already in the works (…) The strong rise in bitcoin has brought a lot of new individuals to the space — they will naturally be looking to replicate returns and Ethereum, which has been in the doldrums comparatively, might look like a good bet for some yield." 

Given the constant increase in digital currency prices, the market capitalization of cryptocurrencies is of roughly $466 billion, and continues to grow on a daily basis.

Based on everything that has been outlined so far, Ethereum’s rise in price will surely bring more interest towards it, hence leading to higher probabilities of prices increasing even further in the near future. There have been numerous talks on possible Ether-based investment options, and analysts believe that financial instruments in this direction will soon be offered by exchanges, pending governmental approval.