Ether continued its rally on Thursday after the Berlin hard fork on the Ethereum blockchain went live earlier the day, surpassing $2,500 for the first time in history.
- The No. 2 cryptocurrency by market capitalization was traded around $2,498.91 at press time, just slightly down after it briefly went as high as $2,503.92.
- Ether's price has been outperforming bitcoin's on Thursday, as the Ethereum blockchain's much anticipated Berlin hard fork went live early the day.
- The upgrade, which sets up the network for the much bigger London hard fork in July, incorporates four Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs).
- The hype around ether is also reflected in the derivatives market, as open interest in ether's options market rose to a record high above $3 billion on Wednesday.
- The late-day surge also could be due to news that the Rothschild Investment took at initial $4.75 million stake in the Grayscale Ethereum Trust. Grayscale is owned by CoinDesk parent company Digital Currency Group.
UPDATE (April 15, 23:48 UTC): Adds news of Rothschild’s investment.
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