The crypto market has hit a record high after Ethereum and several other leading cryptocurrencies reached all-time highs on Wednesday.
The overall market is now worth more than $2.75 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap’s price index, making it more valuable than the world’s richest companies.
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Ethereum’s record-breaking rally saw it reach above $4,600 for the first time in its history, with a market cap approaching $550 billion.
This puts it above JPMorgan Chase, the world’s largest bank by market cap, as well as payments giants like Visa, Mastercard and PayPal.
The cryptocurrency has been boosted by a surge in popularity for NFTs (non-fungible tokens) and decentralised apps (dapps), which are supported by Ethereum’s underlying blockchain.
There is also expectation that such technologies could become even more popular in the future, with tech giants like Meta (formerly Facebook) developing online metaverses where people could store and transact NFTs.
Bitcoin did not see a record price high but rose more than 3 per cent over the last 24 hours and is currently trading above $63,000 – less than $4,000 away from the all-time high it reached in October.
Several leading crypto analysts predicting a strong end to 2021, with one popular price prediction model putting bitcoin on track to hit six figures before the end of the year.
