Ethereum, a cryptocurrency and rival to Bitcoin, has rallied in recent weeks but has yet to push past $45.
Last week the digital currency capitalised on market movements, achieving a market cap of more than $2 billion. This marks the highest ever value achieved by any digital currency in operation, with the exception of Bitcoin.
Indeed, blockchain systems such as Ethereum have rapidly gained traction among major financial institutions, as the industry adapts to new technological and digital norms.
Wall Street Giant JP Morgan Chase (NYSE:JP) is in the the throws of developing a block-chain network named “Quorum”, which has been envisaged as a middle ground between the proliferation of untraceable decentralised currencies as it requires permission from an official authority to participate.
“We get the best of both worlds,” commented David Voell, a lead engineer for J.P. Morgan, during a presentation talk introducing the concepts.
“The key to this whole thing, again, is a single block-chain of everyone continuously checking the integrity,” Voell added. And yet there is still a “clear separation between private and public,” he added.
In addition, Ethereum has begun to work with various other influential companies alongside JP Morgan, such as Santander and Microsoft on a collective initiative dubbed “Enterprise Etherum”. The initiative aim is to develop enterprise protocol with regards to the use of the Ethereum codebase.
Some of the recent market movement has been attributed to events elsewhere in the cyrptocurrency world. Last week, a highly anticipated ruling by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) unexpectedly denied a rule change that would have allowed the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust ETF to commence trading on the Bats BZX Exchange.
In anticipation of the approval of the Winklevoss ETF, Bitcoin surpassed the value of Gold for the first time as the Bitcoin price pushed as high as $1,327. However, in the aftermath of the unsuccessful bid Bitcoin plunged about $300.
However, whilst Ethereum initially reached highs of $50, it has since fallen short failed to break $45.
Ethereum is a custom-built block-chain that can be used in payment systems, in crowdfunding as well gold investing activities.