The Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) price just broke into new all-time highs.
According to data from CoinMarketCap, one Ether was trading for US$4,665 (AU$6,220), 8 hours ago from the time of writing.
That surpasses the previous record high, set on 11 May this year. And it gives the world's No. 2 crypto a market capitalisation of US$540.5 billion.
The Ethereum price has retraced 2% since setting its new highwater mark, currently trading for US$4,570.
As for the all-time low?
While we're on the subject of records, if you're wondering when the Ethereum price hit rock bottom that was 6 years ago. On 21 October, less than 3 months after its blockchain went live, Ether fell to an all-time low of 42 US cents.
If you'd snapped up some tokens at that price, you'd be sitting on a virtual gain of 1,086,252% today. Of course, you would have had to sit through 72 months of wild price volatility to get there.
Why did the Ethereum price have such a strong October?
Today's record high Ethereum price comes on the back of the more than 40% gains posted last month.
Ether started October trading for US$2,995 (AU$3,993) and finished the month at US$4,431.
One of the tailwinds helping propel Ether higher has been the strong performance of the world's biggest crypto, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC). When Bitcoin gains, or loses, many altcoins tend to follow.
And Bitcoin also posted stellar gains in October, finishing the month up 41%. Some of the bullish price moves related to investor enthusiasm over the first US-listed futures-based Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). The ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (NYSE: BITO), launched on 19 October, has seen near-record inflows.
The Bitcoin ETF has many analysts and investors speculating that an Ethereum ETF is only just around the corner. Which could also be helping drive resurgent animal spirits for the token.
Real-world applications
Another potential force helping boost the Ethereum price is its real-world application for business and finance.
Bitcoin is mainly used as a potential store of wealth or to accept or pay for transactions. But Ethereum can be used for things like self-executing smart contracts and other decentralised applications.
On 21 October, Darren Abrams, co-founder and managing director of digital currency provider Aus Merchant Investments, told the Motley Fool:
Ethereum is a platform, upon which a multitude of decentralised applications are built. These decentralised applications or 'dapps' as they are often referred to, are part of a revolution in the computing space known as web 3.0… While Bitcoin is central to the Web 3.0 movement, it's use case is limited. Ether, and other smart contract blockchains, have an almost infinite number of use cases.
Is the Ethereum price inflation resistant?
We'll leave off Ethereum's price run to new record highs with a nod to investors' inflationary concerns.
Bitcoin has long been billed as digital gold. A haven in times of broad stroke price increases. As with gold, that hasn't always been the case. But the mantra remains.
Now Ether is beginning to garner similar attention.
As Bloomberg notes, "Fans of Ethereum are jumping on the anti-inflation narrative".
Whether those fans are proven correct over the longer term or left nursing heavy losses remains to be seen.
Invest with care.
