Ethereum Cracks $4,000 for First Time in 8 Months

Ethereum's price touched $4,000 per coin on Friday for the first time since last December on a number of top exchanges, as transactions on the blockchain surged amid a more favorable environment for the asset and wider crypto markets.

The second biggest digital coin in existence was recently trading just below that level, according to crypto data provider CoinGecko, after jumping 4% over a 24-hour period. It hit the $4,000 mark at about 9 a.m. New York time on America's biggest crypto exchange Coinbase. 

The gains far outplaced Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market value, which was up just a few ticks of a percentage point from Thursday, same time, to trade at about $116,600. But it fell short of XRP's 7.6% gains. Solana and other major altcoins were more modestly in the green. 

The coin is still 18% below its all-time high of $4,878 that it hit in 2021. 

But over a 30-day period, the coin has rallied by over 50% over a 30-day period as Ethereum treasuries have mushroomed. Peter Thiel-backed Bitcoin miner BitMine Immersion and marketing firm SharpLink Gaming have accumulated $2.9 billion and $1.9 billion of ETH respectively since embarking on this strategy and are intent on adding more to their holdings.  

These Ethereum treasuries are following a model pioneered by Strategy—formerly MicroStrategy—which shifted from software development to buying Bitcoin in 2020 after years of struggling and low share prices. Strategy now holds 628,791 BTC worth over $72 billion. 

Trading activity on the Ethereum network has also risen amid increased staking as investors have grown more upbeat about its potential uses but also from recent regulatory decisions that have been favorable to the crypto industry. 

A Myriad Linea Markets table showed that 76% of participants believed that Ethereum transactions would exceed 12 million for the week-long period ending August 10.

Meanwhile, U.S. investors piled into ETH exchange-traded funds. 

Those funds have generated more than $9.3 billion in net inflows since their debut last year, according to U.K. asset manager Farside Investors.