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Bitcoin (BTC) has been getting a lot of press lately as the crypto soared past its 2017 all-time high until it set a new record when it traded at $28,378 on Sunday, December 27, 2020. Ether (ETH), the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, might not be as prominent as BTC but the token has likewise posted massive gains and has even breached $700.
Strong demand for Ether pushed its price to as high as $745 as of 3:54:13 AM on December 29 based on data from Coinmarketcap.com. While the price has since slid down lower, the crypto is still trading above $700 as of press time suggesting that traders are still optimistic about the digital currency’s short-term potential.
The two major factors for the ETH’s surge are the upcoming CME Ethereum futures listing in January 2021 and the strong technical market structure, according to Cointelegraph. But what’s more interesting is that an analyst believes that Ethereum still has room to grow next year thanks to increasing institutional demand.
Ryan Watkins, an analyst at crypto data provider Messari, believes that institutional demand for Ether will likely pick up next year, according to Coindesk. He said that the fact that CME Group is launching an ETH-based product is an indicator that there’s a strong demand for the cryptocurrency.
“CME futures is the writing on the wall,” Watkins tweeted. “They wouldn’t launch an $ETH product if there wasn’t any demand for it.”
While 2020 is known as the year that institutions started buying BTC, 2021 could be ETH’s turn. “In 2021 we begin seeing institutions buy $ETH,” Watkins added. “Once you accept that Bitcoin may be valuable, it opens your mind to the possibility that other crypto-assets may also be valuable. It’s a much easier jump from $BTC to $ETH from there.”
Bitcoin’s (BTC) recent rally has been attributed to the entry of institutional investors how bought the crypto as a hedge against the expected inflation caused by governments’ money printing activities in response to the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
JPMorgan strategists predict that institutional demand for Bitcoin (BTC) could reach $600 billion in the coming years. At the moment, there are still no projections for ETH demand once companies start investing in the crypto-asset.
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