cryptocurrency
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Trevor Lawrence’s NFL career is already off to unique start
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Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies rebound after a brutal week of losses
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Cryptocurrency ether, the digital token of the Ethereum blockchain, topped $3,000 on Monday, hitting an all-time high and stealing attention away from the world\u2019s largest crypto, bitcoin.<\/p>\n
Ether\u2019s price rose about 8 percent Monday morning and exchanged hands at about $3,150 as of 6:45 a.m. ET, according to data from Coinbase. The token\u2019s up more than 300 percent for the year so far, handily outpacing bitcoin\u2019s 95 percent rise on the year.<\/p>\n
Bitcoin\u2019s price also rose about 3 percent Monday, bringing its market cap to about $1.1 trillion, according to Coinbase. Ethereum\u2019s market cap sits around $366 billion, Coinbase data shows. <\/p>\n
The rapid rise of Ethereum comes as excitement around DeFi, or decentralized finance, grows and investors see strong potential on the Ethereum blockchain for more applications. The decentralized finance movement seeks to largely replace banks with blockchain technology as the home of financial transactions like borrowing, lending and trading. <\/p>\n
Ethereum, which allows multiple software developers to build apps on its decentralized network, is particularly appealing to DeFi evangelists. Ether is the native token of the Ethereum blockchain.<\/p>\n
One popular trend in the so-called decentralized app space are non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, many of which are based on the Ethereum blockchain. NFTs are digital assets that represent ownership of virtual items like art and sports memorabilia. Some NFTs have fetched jaw-dropping prices in recent months and the prospect of companies cashing in on the movement have sent a handful of stock prices soaring. <\/p>\n
Increasingly, institutional investors and major US companies are embracing the crypto world. Helping Ether\u2019s price break past $3,000, Bloomberg reported last month that the European Investment Bank plans to issue a digital bond over the Ethereum blockchain. And Coindesk reported last week that JP Morgan plans to unveil a managed bitcoin fund.<\/p>\n
Still, the crypto movement has drawn harsh criticism from some traditional investors. Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Charlie Munger said Saturday that the rise of bitcoin is \u201cdisgusting and contrary to the interests of civilization.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course I hate the bitcoin success,\u201d Munger, 97, said during a Q&A session at Berkshire\u2019s annual shareholder meeting. \u201cI don\u2019t welcome a currency that\u2019s so useful to kidnappers and extortionists and so forth, nor do I like just shuffling out of your extra billions of billions of dollars to somebody who just invented a new financial product out of thin air.\u201d<\/p>\n