Ethereum could overtake Bitcoin after major upgrade draws new buyers in
Ethereum could be on track to overtake Bitcoin as the world's most valuable cryptocurrency after an overhaul on the way it is traded.
Ethereum's price jumped after its upgrade went live earlier today.
The upgrade standardises the way the cryptocurrency is bought and sold, making it harder for miners to charge exorbitant trading fees.
Ethereum has changed the way it handles transactions. Getty
It also makes the cryptocurrency far more environmentally friendly by reducing the amount of work miners must do to access it.
Cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and Bitcoin are a major drain on global electricity supply, with massive amounts of energy needed to mine it.
At present, $3889.91 will buy you a single "Ether". A single Bitcoin will set you back $54,245.
The rapid growth of Ethereum has analysts predicting it could overtake Bitcoin as the world's biggest cryptocurrency by value.
The entire crypto market is on the rebound after plummeting in May, thanks to the actions of Elon Musk.
The Tesla founder provoked speculation that he would be investing big in dogecoin, a cryptocurrency invented as a joke.
READ MORE: Move over, bitcoin. Ethereum is at an all-time high
Elon Musk appears as Wario in a Saturday Night Live sketch. NBC
Then in May, Musk went on Saturday Night Live and described dogecoin as a "hustle", sending prices plummeting.
That same month, Mr Musk said Tesla would stop accepting bitcoin as payment because of the huge amount of energy used to mine it, causing the price to drop.
Cryptocurrency is also climbing on the back of the endorsement of Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, whose company Square has invested billions in Bitcoin.
What is Ethereum?
Ethereum is a cryptocurrency invented in 2013 by 19-year-old Russian-Canadian programmer Vitalik Buterin.
Buterin, 27, is now a billionaire.
READ MORE: Ethereum creator now a billionaire at just 27 years old
Founder of Ethereum Vitalik Buterin. John Phillips/Getty Images
The cryptocurrency has been gaining in stature in recent months after becoming the means by which people are buying non-fungible tokens, or NFTs.
NFTs are now selling for tens of millions of dollars, or rather, the equivalent amount in Ethereum.
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