Yahoo Finance Ethereum hits new all-time high as it soars above $2,700
Ethereum's (ETH-USD) price rallied on Thursday, crossing $2,700 (£1,936), as the European Investment Bank (EIB) announced it will launch its first-ever digital bond on the crypto's blockchain network.
The world's second largest cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalisation went as high as $2,796. At the time of writing, it was trading at $2,789.209, up roughly 4%.
This means its market cap was about $320bn, making it more valuable than payments giant PayPal (PYPL), which currently has a market cap of $313bn, trading at $266.80 per share.
EIB, the lending arm of the European Union, used ethereum technology to issue €100m (£86.8m, $121m) in two-year digital notes bonds, working in collaboration with Goldman Sachs (GS), Santander (SAN) and Societe Generale (GLE.PA).
This may have given ethereum a boost as it inches towards $3,000.
"Ethereum's performance to smash the £2,000 barrier for the first time is further indication that alternative currencies are now firmly established amongst consumers as a viable store of value and means of exchange," said Jason Cozens, founder and CEO of fintech Glint.
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"Consumers have had enough of being punished for saving and they're increasingly embracing alternatives to fiat currencies that offer greater control over how they save and spend their money," he added.
However, he warned that the creation of a Central Bank Digital Currency taskforce in the UK demonstrates that regulators "will look to curtail and ultimately crush their mainstream use by establishing a digital currency tied to sterling."
"This will leave consumers at the mercy of the same factors which erode the value of fiat currencies and decline the value of our savings and purchasing power."
Elsewhere, joke token dogecoin was up about almost 3%, trading at $0.3071. Its price had surged as much as 20% on Wednesday after Tesla (TSLA) boss Elon Musk called himself the "Dogefather" on Twitter.
Ripple (XRP-GBP) was also up, trading at $0.9976, while bitcoin (BTC-USD) fell 1.6% to trade at $53,794.21.
"Bitcoin is still up 200% since the turn of the year despite losing almost a third of its value in two weeks over April – and is creeping back," said Cozens.
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