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What is the current price of ethereum?

The price of ethereum, or 1 ETH, traded at $3,448.06, as of 8 a.m. ET. The highest intraday price that ethereum reached in the past year was $4,088.00 on March 12, 2024.

The return comparisons are as of 8 a.m. ET.

Although ethereum is not the first altcoin, its the most popular and successful. The cryptocurrency was launched in 2015. Its blockchain has generated tremendous growth and returns over the past nine years.

*The chart above is pulling data as of 8 a.m. ET daily and doesnt display intraday highs or lows.

Ethereums 52-week intraday high was on March 12, 2024, trading at $4,088.00 per ETH. Its 52-week intraday low was $1,500.00 on Aug. 17, 2023.

The leading altcoin has shifted global financial markets and amassed a global market capitalization of $414.65 billion. ETH is currently up 82% year over year.

Today, ethereum's $414.65 billion market capitalization is second to bitcoin's. Together, bitcoin and ethereum represent 71% of the entire cryptocurrency market. While ethereum is the leading altcoin, other altcoins have relatively high market capitalizations. A few include solana with a market cap of $93.32 billion, XRP at $61.31 billion and everyones favorite meme coin DOGE at $18.02 billion.

Bitcoin and ethereum's combined crypto market dominance has fluctuated over the years. But it has trended steadily higher since late 2022.

Ethereum's market cap of $414.65 billion is similar to some major blue-chip stocks, such as UnitedHealthcare Group (UNH) at $464.21 billion and Mastercard (MA) at $405.70 billion.

Ethereum is a blockchain-based network created to facilitate secure, decentralized financial transactions. The network's native cryptocurrency is ether.

Unlike bitcoin, ethereums programmable blockchain allows users to securely verify and execute code, including smart contracts and decentralized applications. Smart contracts on the ethereum network are software applications that run automatically on the blockchain when certain predetermined conditions are met.

The ethereum network's decentralized nature allows developers to run programs without relying on Big Tech companies or other third parties. Rather than running software on cloud servers housed in massive data centers owned by Google, ethereum users can run applications by leveraging ethereum's large network of small, private computers.

Applications on the ethereum blockchain include gaming, socializing, gambling and decentralized finance options. The ethereum blockchain is also home to the world's most significant nonfungible tokens. NFTs are unique digital creations representing ownership of digital property, such as a work of art, song or video.

Ethereum gas is the fee network users pay to process transactions or use smart contracts on the network. Gas fees are akin to highway tolls. Users pay these fees to use the ethereum blockchain.

The unit of measurement for gas fees is gwei. One gwei equals one billionth of one ETH.

Like bitcoin and other leading cryptocurrencies, ethereum had humble beginnings. Shortly after its launch in July 2015, ETH hit its all-time low of 42 cents in October 2015.

The popularity and trading volumes of cryptocurrencies started to snowball in 2017. ETH prices reached $1,000 for the first time in January 2018. The crypto ultimately peaked at around $1,300 less than two weeks later.

CME Group's announcement that it would launch bitcoin futures contracts drove ethereums 2017 rally. They were the first cryptocurrency-related products offered by a regulated U.S. financial institution.

Enthusiasm for cryptocurrency died down in 2018. That led to one of several crypto winters in the past decade.

The next crypto boom began in 2020. This time, ETH's parabolic rise was partly driven by government shutdowns of sports, casinos, and other leisure and entertainment options. Multiple government stimulus checks also left many Americans with extra disposable income to buy crypto.

Ethereum prices reached $4,891.70 on Nov. 16, 2021. But rising interest rates cooled investor enthusiasm for risk assets in 2022. A string of crypto industry layoffs and bankruptcies weighed on crypto prices, culminating in the bankruptcy of leading cryptocurrency exchange FTX in November 2022. ETH prices dipped below $900 during the 2022 crypto winter.

The ethereum rally resumed in 2023 and into 2024 as investors grew more optimistic about the U.S. economic outlook. The Securities and Exchange Commissions approval of several bitcoin spot ETFs in January 2024 further bolstered ethereum prices.

On May 23, 2024, the SEC approved applications to allow the CBOE, Nasdaq and NYSE to list ether ETFs. The decision affects funds proposed by the following fund houses: Fidelity, Ark 21 Shares, Grayscale, BlackRock, Franklin, Invesco and VanEck.

Since ethereums launch in 2015, there's no question that bitcoin and ETH have been spectacular investments.

The past years enthusiasm for bitcoin spot ETFs has reversed the performance gap between the two major cryptos. The price of bitcoin is up 117% year over year, compared to an 82% gain for ethereum.

You can buy ethereum on popular cryptocurrency exchanges like Binance, Coinbase and Kraken. Ethereum trades under the symbol ETH. There are also online brokerages that support cryptocurrency trading, such as Robinhood, Interactive Brokers and Webull.

In addition, you can buy ethereum through leading payment apps Venmo and PayPal. Finally, ethereum can be bought directly by searching for a physical cryptocurrency ATM that sells ether.

Anyone buying ethereum directly must store their ETH in a cryptocurrency wallet. This is much like storing paper money in a physical wallet.

Private keys are needed to send or receive cryptocurrency in a digital wallet. The person who controls a wallet's private keys controls all the cryptocurrency associated with the wallet.

Ethereum wallets can be hardware wallets resembling USB sticks or software wallet apps that store ETH on a smartphone or another device. Hot wallets are connected to the internet, while cold wallets are not. Hot wallets are generally considered more convenient, but cold wallets can be safer and more secure.

In addition to buying ethereum directly, you can indirectly speculate on the ethereum market via ethereum funds.

The SEC approved the first wave of ethereum futures ETFs in late 2023. These ETFs don't invest in ethereum directly but instead hold ethereum futures contracts. Leading ethereum futures ETFs include the VanEck Ethereum Strategy ETF (EFUT), the ProShares Ether Strategy ETF (EETH) and the Bitwise Ethereum Strategy ETF (AETH).

The popular Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE) tracks the price of ETH. Currently, the fund holds about $11 billion in assets.

In May 2024, the SEC made a landmark decision that would allow ETFs to buy and hold ethereum. A similar decision was made for bitcoin ETFs in January 2024 in terms of spot holdings. The approval of ether ETFs indicates a softening toward some cryptos in their legal fights.

Ethereums all-time intraday high was $4,891.70, which it reached on Nov. 16, 2021.

Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile. That makes it difficult to predict how its price will behave. Ethereum has performed exceptionally well overall since its launch in 2015. But past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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Ethereum price today: ETH is up 44% year to date - USA TODAY