Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, has surpassed $4,900 for the first time.
According to CoinMarketCap, a global cryptocurrency market tracking site, Ethereum was trading at $4,781 as of 8 a.m. on the 25th. The price of Ethereum was hovering around $4,700 until midnight the previous day but began to rise early that morning, soaring to about $4,950 around 4:30 p.m. This is the first time Ethereum's price has surpassed $4,900. However, it quickly fell again, maintaining at $4,700.
The price of Bitcoin was recorded at $113,412 around the same time, showing weakness. This represents a decline of 1.59% from 24 hours ago and 3.81% from a week ago.
Recent analyses suggest that Ethereum's rising prominence over Bitcoin is due to stablecoins. Stablecoins are coins with prices fixed at $1, making them 'stable' in price, and most are based on Ethereum. Notably, both Tether (USDT) and Circle (USDC), which account for 98% of the total supply of stablecoins, are based on Ethereum.