Ethereum: what's happened to Ether?

Since I purchased a small number of ETH last July, the quoted price has bounced along, not doing a lot.

But in the last 3 weeks, both trading volume and ETH value have increased dramatically.

So what is going on?

I bought a few Ether (ETH) last summer, more out of interest in the technology than in the hope of making a million! (Ethereum: let's buy ether)

Ether 1 year chart courtesy of worldcoinindex

Ether is a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin. Its part of the Ethereum blockchain magic which involves a de-centralised virtual ledger to keep track of all sorts of assets, including Ether. You can exchange Ether with other people, companies or institutions without the intervention of a bank. > More here <

Bitcoin is currently #1 and Ether #2, but they are not the only players in this market, there are hundreds of them. Just take a look at the current List of Cryptocurrencies on Wikipedia.

The reason for the apparently sudden interest in Ether comes down to the establishment of the EEA. News of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA) was published towards the end of February. This alliance includes some big names, such as Thomson Reuters, JP Morgan, Intel and Microsoft.

The involvement of the EEA is seen as a big vote of confidence in Ethereum as the most suitable emerging blockchain technology.

ETH this month (Courtesy worldcoinindex)

I suspect that much of the increase in ETH value is due to hardcore crypto's who move their money between cryptocurrencies. Maybe this accounts for some of the recent drops in Bitcoin?

BTC this month (courtesy worldcoinindex)

my crystal ball is at the menders

It seems to me that the future is uncertain (...don't groan, you are not paying for this stuff!) but I would expect to see general growth as more investors move into cryptocurrencies. These investors might be a combination of Financial Speculators, The Curious and The Clinically Insane. But either way, there will be a lot of money sloshing around "out there" in crypto land.

The really difficult bit will be avoiding currencies that crash and burn due to technical issues, fraud or some other story in the crypto-press that causes investors to flee. And of course the news doesn't have to be bad for your favourite currency, it might just be very good news for another currency which results in a mass-migration event, leaving you holding the baby.

As always, its probably survival of the fittest; and this applies to individual currencies, and also the speed with which investors can switch currencies at the first hint of a problem.