Another cryptocurrency Ethereum now hits historic $1,000 milestone

While Bitcoin may not have had a bright start to 2018, looks like other cryptocurrencies are soaring to new heights. The third largest cryptocurrency by market value, Ethereum hit a new high of $1,000 per unit in early trading on Thursday.

The total market capitalization of ethers currently available is now $100 billion. One ether was worth between $700 and $800 for most of the second half of December. But over the past seven days, ethers have been trading up 40 percent.

While Bitcoin is primarily a payment platform and a currency, Ethereum is a platform for decentralized apps. This is what makes it extremely important in the world of cryptocurrencies — in 2017, there have been hundreds of projects that raised funds using the Ethereum platform.

In mid-December, a group of financial companies including UBS, Credit Suisse, and Barclays announced plans to test the Ethereum blockchain in the hopes of making it easier to meet new European Union reporting standards under the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II.

Similarly, Ripple, second biggest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, has been up over 1,300 percent over the last 30 days. Ripple basically facilitates fast, cheap transactions, mainly between banks, through a separate but related entity called Ripple Connect. The Ripple coin (XRP) exists independently in the hope that banks will someday use it via Ripple Connect. It can’t be mined as other currencies can, and its worth per coin—despite holding the second largest market cap behind bitcoin—has yet to top $4.