Ether (ETH) rose more than 8% to US$2,717.25 this Thursday, June 3, though it remained 40% below its all-time high record of more than US$4,300 from early May.
Meanwhile, Ethereum’s larger rival Bitcoin rose 3.7% up to US$36,997 in a quiet trading session with both London and US markets temporarily shut for the holidays. The price of Bitcoin has become less volatile in recent days, however, it is still down by approximately 35% in May.
Last May 12, Ether’s trading price breached the US$4,300 mark and resumed an upward rally, reaching a market capitalization of US$500 billion and steadily closing the gap with top cryptocurrency Bitcoin’s market cap of US$1 trillion.
However, on May 13, Bitcoin along with other cryptocurrencies such as Ether experienced a slump in value after CEO Tesla Motors Elon Musk’s Twitter post regarding Bitcoin mining’s environmental impact, which negatively affected the crypto market. Since the announcement, Tesla Motors has removed Bitcoin from its payment options.
The increased regulatory pressure on the sector is also another cause for various cryptocurrencies’ low market value.
On May 21, China doubled down on their crackdown on mining farms and cryptocurrency trading in the country as announced by State Council Vice Premier Liu He in a State Council committee meeting. He stated the Chinese government’s responsibility to safeguard citizens against financial risks, especially with cryptocurrencies volatility in the market.
The governor of the Bank of Japan Haruhiko Kuroda also joined the chorus of central bankers taking aim at Bitcoin (BTC) amid its current volatility in the market.
According to a report by Bloomberg on May 28, Kuroda contended against the value proposition of Bitcoin stating that ‘most of the trading is speculative and volatility is extraordinarily high. It’s barely used as a means of settlement.’
This criticism on the largest cryptocurrency came right after Bitcoin experienced over 50% drawdown from its all-time high value of US$64,000 back in mid-April.
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