Cryptocurrency ether is struggling to keep pace with soaring big brother bitcoin.
The no. 2 cryptocurrency, which commands less than a fifth of the $2.7 trillion crypto market, has not done poorly. But ether is up just around 53% in the first three months of this year, compared with bitcoin's 65%.
Bitcoin scaled new peaks last month. Trading around $3,612 on Monday, ether is at least 26% below its Nov. 2021 all-time high of $4,867.60.
Even a recent technical upgrade of the Ethereum blockchain, which is used to build applications, barely made a splash beyond the circle of crypto enthusiasts, in contrast to the excitement ahead of bitcoin's «halving» next month, a technical change designed to slow the coin's supply.
In a typical case of markets selling the fact, ether dropped 12% after the underlying blockchain's Dencun upgrade on March 13 aimed at lowering transaction fees on its ecosystem.
«Ethereum is persistently dogged by its lack of name recognition among non-endemic investors,» said Joseph Edwards, head of research at London crypto firm Enigma Securities.
«There's a lot more economic activity on it compared to 2020… but it reaching all-time highs will likely come fairly late.»
Much depends on whether the U.S.