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March 08, 2018, 08:13:30 AM |
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Traders and asset managers say ethereum has bright future as investors and start-ups see it as the “go-to blockchain ecosystem”
The cryptocurrency ethereum is likely to see a bigger increase in market capitalisation than bitcoin by the end of this year, a market survey has found.
Consumer product and services comparison website Finder’s survey of nine blockchain industry participants on the price trend for the world’s top 12 cryptocurrencies found that ethereum will see the biggest increase in market cap, at 212 per cent, followed by bitcoin at 194 per cent, and bitcoin cash at 123 per cent.
In terms of price prediction, ethereum will however rank third, at US$2,550, by end of this year; while bitcoin and bitcoin cash are forecast to trade at US$29,533 and US$2,721 respectively, taking the top two spots.
The predictions were based on their price levels seen on February 27, which were recorded at US$873, US$10,388 and US$1,258 respectively.
The growth in ethereum’s market capitalisation – calculated by multiplying the number of coins expected to be in circulation by the average forecast of the coin’s value – is in part driven by wider applicability of its underlying blockchain network, market participants told the South China Morning Post.
The value of bitcoin fell below US$10,000 in recent trading, after the US Securities and Exchange Commission instructed online trading platforms to register with the agency as exchanges, in a move that’s seen as adding more restrictions to the unfettered movement of digital currency.
This has in turn led more investors to buy ethereum in anticipation of more future token sales – or initial coin offerings (ICO) – to be launched by tech start-ups for funding their next innovative projects as they believe ethereum is the “go-to blockchain”, they said.
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