Investing.com – Ethereum, the second largest digital currency by market capitalization, soared past the $700 level on Wednesday to hit an all-time high and helped total cryptocurrency market cap to continue its rally above half a trillion dollars.
Having past the $400 mark on November 23, Ethereum is currently on track for a three-day rally of nearly 70% that has taken the second alternative currency up more than $200. It was last up around 14% at $723,52, after hitting an all-time high of $744.69.
Today’s rally has aided the overall market cap of all alternative currencies to surpass the half a trillion mark, currently at $511.9 billion.
Among other major cryptocurrencies, Ripple, fourth in the standing with a market cap of $17.92 billion, led the pack on Wednesday with gains of around 25% at $0.43846.
Bitcoin, the largest alt currency by market cap ($284.20 billion), was largely unchanged on Wednesday as it struggled with the $17,000 price tag, while its offshoot Bitcoin Cash, third with a market cap of $26.93 billion, rose around 2% to $1,630,60.
Among the continued furor for Bitcoin, prices hit a record high of $17,500 on the exchange on Tuesday, extending their gains for the year to nearly 1,700% after starting 2017 at around $1,000.
The number-one digital currency by market cap has rallied further after CBOE bitcoin futures were launched on Monday with a follow up expected from rival CME on December 18.