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Ether Tops $1.7K, Setting New Record as CME Futures Launch Nears

The cryptocurrency has gained 30% so far this week.

Updated Sep 14, 2021, 12:07 p.m. Published Feb 5, 2021, 2:22 p.m.
Ether prices over 24 hours.
Ether prices over 24 hours.

Ether's bull run continues with prices topping the $1,700 mark to set new all-time highs.

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At the current price of $1,717, the native token of Ethereum's blockchain is up 5% on a 24-hour basis, according to CoinDesk 20 data. The cryptocurrency has gained 30% so far this week.

Trader and analyst Alex Kruger foresees a continued rally toward $1,920 ahead of the launch of ether futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange on Feb. 8.

Ether's recent rally looks similar to bitcoin's staggering rise from nearly $6,200 to $19,783 seen in weeks leading up to the CME futures launch on Dec. 17, 2017. The bull market ended following the futures launch and prices fell as low as $3,200 by December 2018.

Kruger does not expect a big dump in ether after Feb. 8. "I don't expect a crash after the launch, as it happened in 2017. For two reasons. First, the market is now more mature, the macro is different, and there are different players involved. Second, ETH remains a high beta asset. BTC determines the market direction, ETH follows," Kruger tweeted.

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Pudgy Penguins is building a multi-vertical consumer IP platform — combining phygital products, games, NFTs and PENGU to monetize culture at scale.

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Pudgy Penguins is emerging as one of the strongest NFT-native brands of this cycle, shifting from speculative “digital luxury goods” into a multi-vertical consumer IP platform. Its strategy is to acquire users through mainstream channels first; toys, retail partnerships and viral media, then onboard them into Web3 through games, NFTs and the PENGU token.

The ecosystem now spans phygital products (> $13M retail sales and >1M units sold), games and experiences (Pudgy Party surpassed 500k downloads in two weeks), and a widely distributed token (airdropped to 6M+ wallets). While the market is currently pricing Pudgy at a premium relative to traditional IP peers, sustained success depends on execution across retail expansion, gaming adoption and deeper token utility.

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