The two big cryptocurrencies Bitcoin and Ether recorded all-time highs in November, but Ether continued to outperform the legacy coin. Ether ended November with over 7 percent gains at $4,630, whereas Bitcoin closed nearly 7 percent lower at $61,000.
Both the digital coins had touched record highs of $67,566 and $4,812, respectively, on November 8, per data from
coinmarketcap. The all-time high for Bitcoin is $68,789 and for Ether, it is $4,891.
The performance of the two coins reflects what experts have been pointing out for a while now – the real use cases of
Ethereum blockchain could soon make Ether a dominant crypto.
Also Read | Explained: How are Bitcoin and Ethereum blockchain different
Ether versus Bitcoin Ether, as compared to Bitcoin, is seeing a much greater association with ancillary growth sectors in the cryptocurrency world, including decentralised finance (
DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and metaverse, Stephane Ouellette told
Bloomberg. Ouellette is the chief of crypto platform FRNT Financial Inc.
“The current BTC trading window seems to associate the asset more with global currency trends, inflation hedges, etc.,” he said. While ETH “has, at least from a current market perception standpoint, higher correlations with the growth of crypto sub-sectors,” he added.
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Ether has consistently stayed ahead of Bitcoin for nearly eight months this calendar, clocking gains to the tune of 500 percent year-to-date. Bitcoin's gains were a little short of 100 percent during the same period. In terms of market capitalisation though, Bitcoin's $1 trillion is twice that of ether.
But it is also important to note that the two blockchains serve different objectives. The bitcoin blockchain is a secure peer-to-peer (P2P) digital cash transaction system. It is a highly secure digital ledger with Bitcoin as a native currency. It derives value solely on the basis of the demand-supply dynamics.
The Ethereum blockchain, on the other hand, has gone a step further by adding a system of smart contracts. These contracts allow two individuals to execute transactions without any intermediary. This makes it more attractive for global financial applications. Its latest ‘
Altair Upgrade’ has also made it incredibly fast and more scalable.
Also Read | Explained: How Ethereum update will boot out miners, cut power use by 99.9%
According to a report by CryptoCompare, an FCA authorised research and analytics firm, “From explosive growth markets like NFTs to more esoteric concepts like the metaverse, developers have shown an irrepressible appetite to continue expanding the Ethereum universe.”
“Ethereum-hosted gaming apps like Axie Infinity are creating entirely new markets. DeFi protocols and products have expanded to collect $280bn of assets between them, with Ethereum still the dominant leader.”
If Ether breaks out above the mid-November highs, and Bitcoin continues to sit drag, it will become apparent Ether "has become the new crypto of choice for most investors," Matt Maley told
Bloomberg. Malley is the chief market strategist for Miller Tabak + Co, an institutional firm since 1982.
Also Read | Is Ethereum ETF on the way? Grayscale CEO deciphers
