Ethereum, the sophisticated cryptocurrency, made a fast move and reached a new high of $912. ETH/USD was unable to hold onto this level and slipped back under the previous peak of around $880 and trades just under $840 at the time of writing.
Nevertheless, ETH/Dollar is up over 11% on the day and certainly staging a comeback. Ethereum was surpassed by Ripple as the second digital coin after Bitcoin in terms of market capitalization. The surge of ripple saw ETH and other cryptos struggling behind. Well, now Ethereum has awoken.
According to CoinMarketCap, Ripple still holds the second place with a market cap of around $89 billion (XRP/USD has been moving up as well) but Ethereum is not far behind with $84. During the last days of 2017, the gap was much wider.
Here are the latest moves on the ETH/USD chart:
At current levels, resistance awaits at $850, after having capped the price several times during December. The previous peak of $880 is the next line and the fresh swing high of $912 is next line. Above all these, we have the round $1000 number.
Looking down, $777 held ETH/USD back a few times in the dying days of 2017. Below, we find $727 which limited the pair just before Christmas. It is followed by $637 which was the last swing low before the recent surge.
Ripple versus Ethereum
Ripple enjoys the backing of Asian and especially Japanese backs for quick transactions. Ethereum offers sophisticated smart contracts and other tokens can build upon it.
The close race between them leaves the next contenders far behind. Bitcoin cash is valued at only $41 billion, less than half the value of Ethereum. In fifth place, we find Cardano, that surpassed Litecoin recently. Both are valued under $20 billion.
More:Â Can cryptos can cause bankruptcy for brokers?
