Ethereum jumps above $300 again, heads for huge quarterly gain

Ethereum rose by more than 5% in spot trading on Friday to resume its strong gains, which were halted yesterday due to correction and profit taking from the highest level in ten months, to trade again above the psychological barrier of $300, recording a huge quarterly gain, which is the largest since the last quarter of 2017.

As of 11:38 GMT, on the Bitstamp Stock Exchange, Ethereum is trading around $308.77, rising by $14.99 or 9.1%, from the opening price of $293.78 with a high of $309.51 and a low of $288.00.

Ethereum lost 12.3% yesterday, the first loss in four days, and the biggest daily loss since 24 February.

The biggest daily loss in four months occured due to accelerated correction and profit taking after the world's second-largest cryptocurrency recorded the highest price in 10 months at $363.18.

Another reason for the loss is the heightened fears over the repeated failures during this week of the US's largest digital platform, Coinbase.

The market value of digital currencies on Friday rose by more than $26 billion to $339 billion, with most of the major cryptocurrencies in the market rebounding led by Bitcoin.

The crypto market lost about $46 billion on Thursday, following a sharp fall that dominated most of the majors on the market, as the market value on Wednesday was $387 billion, the highest level since May 2018.

In the second quarter of this year, ethereum has so far gained 119%, the second consecutive quarterly gain, and the biggest quarterly gain since the fourth quarter of 2017.

These strong gains were supported attributed to the bullish market run that has dominated Bitcoin's trading since early April, as the main driver of this market run is the the strong demand from institutional investors.

The crypto industry is enjoying its best period ever since Facebook announced its cryptocurrency, which is expected to emerge in the first half of next year as the industry has become a source of confidence.

Tom Leigh, co-founder of Funderstraat, said this is a sign of interest in the crypto industry.

According to a press release released on Friday, CLIC cryptocurrency payment technology company will partner with a B2B platform to develop a browser that allows Amazon customers to pay for online shopping using Ethereum.

The two companies plan to achieve the goal using Plasma Cask, which is a technology that was highlighted in March 2018 and will significantly accelerate transactions beyond those currently on the Ethereum block.