Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, has reached a new all-time high (ATH) of $2,736 per coin on April 28, 2021. The previous day, ETH had already touched $2,706, marking a strong recovery after last week's broader market downturn. Over the past seven days, ether prices have surged 11.48% against the U.S. dollar and also gained 10% against bitcoin (BTC).
ETH Dominance Rises to 14.9% as Bitcoin Dominance Slips Below 50%
The rally has significantly impacted Bitcoin's market dominance, which dropped to 49.2%—the lowest level in months. Meanwhile, Ethereum's share of the total crypto market cap has risen to 14.9%. At current prices, Ethereum's market valuation stands at approximately $311 billion, nearly matching that of PayPal. Analyst @spencernoon noted that Ethereum settled $1.5 trillion in transactions in the last quarter alone, while PayPal processed $936 billion in the entire year of 2020.
Berlin Upgrade Spurs Lower Gas Fees and DeFi Revival
Following Ethereum's 'Berlin' hard fork on April 15, network gas fees have dropped significantly. The median transaction fee on Ethereum is now only $5.89, compared to Bitcoin's $14.31. This reduction has revitalized decentralized finance (DeFi) activity, with total value locked (TVL) in DeFi protocols soaring to $63.2 billion. MakerDAO dominates with 15.83% of the TVL. Ethereum's daily transaction count reached 1.45 million, vastly exceeding Bitcoin's 289,613 transactions, although Bitcoin still leads in settlement value ($75.1 billion vs. $23.57 billion in the last 24 hours).
Ethereum Becomes Bitcoin's Top Sidechain with Over 200K Wrapped BTC
Ethereum now holds a total of 201,058 wrapped or synthetic bitcoin tokens, with Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) alone accounting for 156,936 BTC. No other chain comes close to this figure, solidifying Ethereum's role as Bitcoin's primary sidechain. Beyond hashrate, Ethereum is outperforming Bitcoin on most key metrics, including transaction volume, ecosystem growth, and settlement throughput.
From a longer-term perspective, Ethereum has gained 48.3% against the dollar in the past month, 102% over three months, and a staggering 1,270.57% over the past 12 months. However, after hitting the new ATH, ETH retreated about 2.55% in early trading Wednesday. The market is closely watching whether Ethereum can maintain its momentum and further challenge Bitcoin's dominance in the crypto landscape.