Ethereum Cracks Record-High of $1.8K amid CME ETH Futures Listing and Bitcoin All-Time High

Ethereum (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, has broken to a record-high of more than $1,800, increasing by 10% in the past 24 hours.

Ether’s price increase could be attributed to the fact that market sentiment in the crypto sector has been positive lately, with Bitcoin soaring to a fresh all-time high recently of $47K. The largest cryptocurrency by market cap has reclaimed the spotlight, as Tesla has been the latest corporate giant to announce a $1.5 billion dollar purchase of Bitcoin.

With Elon Musk’s car manufacturing firm backing Bitcoin, this has served to re-ignite the cryptocurrency bull run, and push Ethereum and other altcoins higher. With both leading cryptocurrencies Bitcoin and Ethereum hitting new all-time highs and entering price discovery territory once again, Meltem Demirors, the Chief Strategy Officer at coinShares, summarized the historical moment and said:

“Bad day for bears. Papa Musk goes all-in on bitcoin with Tesla treasury; $ETH futures launch on CME with much FUD (Fear, uncertainty, doubt), yet ETH rallies on the open.”

Another factor that has majorly contributed to Ethereum’s new all-time high is the listing of ETH futures going live on February 8, at 8 pm Eastern Time. The launch was conducted by CME Group, which listed Bitcoin futures first. The new addition of ETH futures is expected to facilitate and drive the inflow of institutional investments into Ethereum, just as it did for Bitcoin.

Crypto analytics platform Arcane Research pinpointed the launch of ETH Futures as a success, stating:

“The first day of trading for CME’s ETH Futures ended with over $30 million in volume and $20 million in open interest.”

Currently, the increase in Ethereum’s price is proof enough that interest in Ethereum has been renewed. With the availability of ETH futures, institutional investment is expected to pour into Ethereum. Just last week, crypto asset manager CoinShares reported that around $195 million worth of institutional inflow entered Ethereum, and that number is undoubtedly going to surge in the near future.