Ethereum, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, registered an all-time high of $1,560 on Wednesday after significant demand from retail and institutional investors. ETH price is now up more than 100% since the start of 2021.
Ethereum’s total market cap crossed $178 billion today. The cryptocurrency is now more valuable than the leading financial firm, Citigroup. Growth in DeFi, optimism regarding ETH options, and significant activities from ETH whales played a major role in the recent rally.
Grayscale, the world’s largest crypto asset manager, recently announced the reopening of its Ethereum Trust for accredited investors. According to the latest data provided by crypto Analytics company bybt.com, Grayscale accumulated 24,796 ETH worth nearly $38 million in the last 24 hours.
Grayscale now has more than 2.96 million Ethereum under management with a total value of around $4.5 billion. Bitcoin remained the top holding of Grayscale as the crypto asset manager has over 649,000 BTC under management, valued at more than $23 billion.
Ethereum Whales and ETH Price
The price of ETH depends heavily on the activities of Ethereum addresses holding large amounts. Finance Magnates earlier reported about a rise in anonymous crypto transactions and mentioned the movement of more than 100,000 ETH by crypto whales. According to the data posted by Bloqport, a crypto research and analytics firm, ETH held on leading crypto exchanges reached a historic low in January as 3.75 million Ethereum worth around $5 billion left digital exchanges. The number of whale addresses holding at least 10,000 ETH reached the highest level in 13 months as January created more than 35 new ETH whale addresses.
Ethereum’s price rise is playing a major role in the significant growth of DeFi tokens. Chainlink, Uniswap and Aave posted record gains this year amid growing demand. As of writing, ETH is trading around $1,540 with a total market cap of $177 billion. The overall market cap of Cryptocurrencies reached $1.1 trillion earlier today, its highest level in weeks.
