Ethereum price hits $500 a two year high

Popular altcoin, Ethereum has surpassed the $500 mark for the first time since January 2018. Ethereum is in the midst of a bullish run that has seen its price rise by more than 7% in the past week.

The last 24 hours has been massive for Ether as it gained 7% within this period and surged past the $500 psychological barrier. However, some minutes after crossing this milestone the altcoin retracted to $490 which was expected by analysts.

At the time of publication, Ethereum is valued at $505 and is firmly seated within the $500 zone with the next resistance levels at $550. 2020 has been an exceptional year for the leading smart contract platform as it has outperformed Bitcoin.

Ethereum gained 300% in 2020

Ethereum started the year at $128, but gained almost 300% in the past 11 months to its current price of $505. During this period the Bitcoin price has gone up by around 160%. This growth can be largely attributed to the surge in the DeFi sector and the upcoming Ethereum 2.0 project.

DeFi was a major revelation in 2020 and Ethereum was able to benefit as most of the major platforms like UniSwap, Aave and Chainlink, since they are built on the Ethereum network.

It is expected that the price of Ethereum will continue its recent surge with the platform expected to begin Phase 0 of the Ethereum 2.0 update in December. At the moment the smart contract deposits hit 20% as more users are staking their assets in the protocol.

Also the Ethereum hash rate has reached record levels in the past 24 hours as miners flock to mine the coin.

Ethereum’s recent surge in price has seen several analysts suggest potential price explosions in the coming months. Co-founder of blockchain research firm Blockfyre thinks that if Ethereum can maintain its current pace, the price good begin a new movement towards $800.

$ETH smashed key resistance, hasn't traded as high since mid 2018.

Fingers crossed we will stay above $488 until end of the week to close above, then it's going straight to $800.

And then straight to $1400.

And then straight to another galaxy.

Then you can take profits. pic.twitter.com/HOzBKXx1Rc

— Simon Dedic (@scoinaldo) November 20, 2020

From there he suggests that it could move to $1400 in the coming months. At the moment the market sentiments look good for the altcoin.