The price of Ether has risen almost 7% in the last 24 hours, to $4.141,99, according to Coin Metrics, with a market capitalisation of $476.3 billion, less than half that of bitcoin.
Ether has been moving in the shadow of bitcoin, but its profits have been growing exponentially lately as investors look for other cryptocurrencies for returns.
The price of bitcoin fell by more than 2% in April, while that of Ether rose by more than 40%. The total capitalisation of the cryptocurrency market has exceeded $2.5 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.
Institutional investors and some businesses, such as Tesla, were prawn to bitcoin earlier this year, believing it offers potential inflation coverage as central banks around the world print money to help coronavirus-hit economies.
Major Wall Street banks, such as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, also seek to offer their wealthy customers a place in bitcoin.
Bitcoin and Ether have similarities as they are both digital currencies, but they also have differences. While bitcoin is considered by its followers as a means of storing value like gold, Ether aims to create a form of decentralised internet that is not controlled by central authorities.
