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Ether Price Hits 2-Year High
The two-year high was reached alongside a drop in the number of coins held in exchange addresses.
Updated Sep 14, 2021, 9:50 a.m. Published Sep 1, 2020, 10:48 a.m.
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Ether , the second-largest cryptocurrency by market value, jumped to two-year highs on Tuesday, taking its year-to-date gains to 260%.
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- The native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum blockchain, ETH was trading at $470 at press time – a level last seen in July 2018.
- Prices are up more than 100% this quarter alone, according to CoinDesk's ether price index.
- As ether rose by 10% in the past 24 hours, bitcoin added 3% and is currently trading near $11,940.
- Other prominent coins from the CoinDesk 20 including XRP, Stellar XLM, litecoin, bitcoin cash and Chainlink's link token have all rallied by 2%-5% in the past 24 hours.
- "Ethereum's price increase shows it is one of the main altcoins leading the market," Simon Peters, an analyst at multi-asset investment platform eToro, told CoinDesk in an email.
- Investors may be entering the crypto market via ether and decentralized finance protocols rather than bitcoin, which served as a gateway to crypto markets during the 2017 bull run, Peters said.
- On-chain metrics suggest ether's price rally has legs.
- To start with, exchange deposits – the number of coins held in exchange addresses – declined to 17.99 million ETH on Monday, the lowest level since March 11, according to data source Glassnode.
- Exchange balances have also reduced by over 5% in the past four weeks.
- "Investors are holding onto ether as a value holder during times when inflation is on the rise," Glassnode tweeted.
- Investors typically move coins off exchanges to their own wallets when they expect prices to rally.
- Additionally, the recent price gains look to have been fueled by strong hands.
- "The top 100 non-exchange addresses have increased bags by +8.2% in just 35 days – a bullish sign," blockchain analytics firm Santiment tweeted Monday.
- The options market, too, is biased bullish on ether with the one-, three- and six-month put-call skews hovering below zero, according to data provided by the crypto derivatives research firm Skew.
- That's a sign of call options, or bullish bets, drawing higher prices than puts, or bearish bets.
- Put-call skews have declined sharply today with ether's rise to fresh two-year highs above $450.
- Markets now expect ether to face increased volatility over the next four weeks, with one-month implied volatility increasing from 77% to 91% early Tuesday.
Also read: First Mover: Ether Price Swings Make Bitcoin Look Tame as DeFi Speculation Spreads
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KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market.
What to know:
- KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
- This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
- Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
- Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity, reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
- Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity, indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.
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Gold tops $5,000 as bitcoin stalls near $87,000 in widening macro-crypto split: Asia Morning Briefing
Bitcoin’s onchain data points to supply overhang and weak participation, while gold’s breakout is priced by markets as a durable macro regime shift.
What to know:
- Gold’s surge above $5,000 an ounce is increasingly seen as a durable regime shift, with investors treating the metal as a persistent hedge against geopolitical risk, central bank demand and a weaker dollar.
- Bitcoin is stuck near $87,000 in a low-conviction market, as on-chain data show older holders selling into rallies, newer buyers absorbing losses and a heavy supply overhang capping moves toward $100,000.
- Derivatives and prediction markets point to continued consolidation in bitcoin and sustained strength in gold, with thin futures volumes, subdued leverage and weak demand for higher-beta crypto assets like ether reinforcing the cautious tone.
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