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Founded in 2015, Ethereum is a decentralized, open-source blockchain for which Ether is the native cryptocurrency. It is often touted as a primary competitor to bitcoin, as its price level and market cap are the only ones that have even come close to the numbers reached by bitcoin over the years.

It is a kind of programmable version of bitcoin that can be used to build apps and deploy smart contracts over the blockchain. As an asset, Ethereum has maintained a high price level over time relative to most other cryptocurrencies, which is why it is popular as an investment asset. However, its immense volatility and the unlimited number of coins the Ethereum network can produce also make it popular with short-term traders.

Ethereum is not without competition. There are several other cryptocurrencies that aim to provide a similar platform for decentralized applications and smart contracts. These include EOS, Cardano, TRON, Stellar, and NEO. Ethereum faces competition from these projects, as well as from Ethereum Classic, a fork of Ethereum that has retained the original Ethereum blockchain.

There are many factors that drive the market for Ethereum, but one particularly notable feature is that its price trends tend to very closely mirror those of its competitor, bitcoin. If one was to look at the Ethereum Euro price history, one would quickly see that its peaks and troughs mirror BTC almost identically.

The coin saw its initial rise at the tail-end of the first crypto boom in 2017/18, and its all-time peak of over €4000 was hit in November 2021, shortly before the crypto crash that defined the start of 2022. Despite its ups and downs, Ethereum has retained a remarkable amount of value throughout the past few years and continues to rank as one of the most expensive crypto assets on the planet.

If you're looking to invest in crypto long-term, Ethereum has plenty of pros going for it. It's a well-known coin with a huge amount of institutional backing, with some of the world's largest banks and asset managers holding large positions in Ether.

For traders, the high levels of volatility might be a draw, especially for those who are adopting a scalping strategy. It's worth noting that Ethereum tends to have very high transaction fees attached and can be very slow to transfer, meaning that traders might prefer to speculate on its price via CFDs, rather than buying the underlying asset outright.