(Bloomberg) — Trading volume of Ether, the second-biggest cryptocurrency, grew faster than that of Bitcoin in the first half of the year, according to a report out today from U.S.’s biggest crypto exchange, Coinbase Global Inc.
Looking at data from 20 major exchanges worldwide, Coinbase found that Bitcoin’s trading volume for the period reached $2.1 trillion, up 489% from $356 billion over the first half of last year. In the same period, Ether’s total trading volume reached $1.4 trillion, up 1,461% from $92 billion in the first half of 2020. This was the first sustained period of time ever for Ether’s trading pace to exceed Bitcoin’s, according to Coinbase.
Both Bitcoin and Ethereum have rallied in the past week after sinking in May on worries about Bitcoin’s environmental impact and a regulatory crackdown in China. Ethereum has been at the center of a new crop of apps allowing for peer-to-peer lending, borrowing and trading. It is also facing an upgrade due around Aug. 4 that will reduce the amount of outstanding tokens by destroying some of them every time it’s used to fuel transactions, which could spur more price gains.
The coin with the highest trading volume is Tether, the stablecoin whose value isn’t supposed to fluctuate much.
Coinbase’s report looked at trends in institutional investment in crypto.
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