Ethereum market cap equals Paypal as coin hits new ATH

TL;DR Breakdown

• ETH price surges to new ATH.
• Factors behind ETH price surge.

The price of number one altcoin and number two cryptocurrency, Ethereum has hit another All-Time High price at $2,700, today.

The move added 7 percent on the day to the price of Ethereum which has since pulled back to the $2,640 level. The new ATH has also pushed the coin market capitalization above $310 billion which brings its equal to the worth of global payment firm, PayPal.

ETH has been one impressive coin in 2021 and has gained 258 percent more than its value at the beginning of the year. Unlike ETH, BTC has surged just 90 percent above its value at the beginning of the year.

Factors behind Ethereum price surge

The recent surge experienced by the number one altcoin follows announcement by the European Investment Bank about plans to launch a digital bond sale on the Ethereum network.

The digital bond worth about $121 million USD would be led by Goldman Sachs, Banco Santander, and Societe Generale Bloomberg reports. The backing from these banks have given the altcoin a boost alongside other momentum driving the surge behind the cryptocurrency.

DeFi is another factor pushing the price of ETH as the ecosystem has surged hitting a record of 2 million users. Other bullish on-chain factors include a decline in the amount of ETH being held on exchanges which indicates that holders are not preparing to sell. ETH also channeled to other earning portals like DeFi has also hit a record of 11 million ETH locked up according to Defipulse.

Lastly, institutional investors are beginning to pay attention to ETH investment as a potential hedge against inflation, or simply as a way to diversify portfolios, which is becoming more common among firms.

Chinese app company Meitu recently announced a purchase of roughly $50 million worth of ETH. And, in Canada, three Ethereum ETFs launched by Purpose Investments, Evolve ETFs, and CI Global Asset Management began trading last week.