*The chart above is pulling data as of 10:08 a.m. ET daily and doesn’t display intraday highs or lows.

Although Ethereum is not the first altcoin, it’s the most popular and successful. An altcoin simply means a cryptocurrency other than bitcoin.

Namecoin is generally considered the first altcoin, launched in April 2011. Ethereum came later in July 2015, expanding the use of blockchain beyond digital cryptocurrency. Its blockchain has generated tremendous growth and returns over the past 10 years.

Ethereum Price History

Read more: Top 10 Cryptocurrencies

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Ethereum Prices

Ethereum Market Cap

Today, Ethereum’s $459.09 billion market capitalization is second to bitcoin. Together, bitcoin and Ethereum represent 73% of the entire cryptocurrency market.

While Ethereum is the leading altcoin, other altcoins have relatively high market capitalizations. A few include solana with a market cap of $95.54 billion, XRP at $184.32 billion and everyone’s favorite meme coin, DOGE at $32.83 billion.

Ethereum Price vs. Bitcoin Price

BTC and ETH represent 61% and 12% of the crypto market, respectively.

Enthusiasm for bitcoin spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) has reversed the performance gap between the two major cryptos. The price of bitcoin is up 77.74% year over year, compared to a 13.90% gain for Ethereum.

A History of Ethereum Prices

Ethereum Prices 2024 – Current

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission gave a positive nod to both bitcoin and Ethereum when it approved several bitcoin spot ETFs in January 2024. This bolstered Ethereum prices, too, with speculation that spot Ethereum ETFs would be approved shortly.

Not too long after, Ethereum spot ETFs began trading in the U.S. in 2024. Some of these funds come from notable names like VanEck, Fidelity and Grayscale. It should be noted that Grayscale converted its fund, Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE), established in 2017, into an exchange-traded product in 2024.

Ethereum Prices 2021 – 2023

Ethereum rebounded in 2023 when investors grew more optimistic about the U.S. economic outlook. The price of ETH had dipped below $900 during the 2022 crypto winter, as rising interest rates cooled investor enthusiasm for risk assets and a string of crypto industry layoffs and bankruptcies weighed on prices.

Ethereum prices had previously reached $4,891.70 on November 16, 2021.

Ethereum Prices 2018 – 2020

The next crypto boom began in 2020.

Multiple government stimulus checks also left many Americans with extra disposable income to buy crypto. It was also a period of low interest rates, coupled with great strides in decentralized finance and increasing interest in non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

The 2020 boom transitioned cryptocurrency out of the 2018-2019 crypto winter—a period marked with fading interest and regulatory crackdowns. During that period, Ethereum fell from trading at above $1,000 in January 2018 to less than $100 in December 2018. The second leading crypto remained under $200 until May 2019.

Ethereum Prices 2015 – 2017

Like bitcoin and other leading cryptocurrencies, Ethereum had humble beginnings. Shortly after its launch in July 2015, ETH hit its all-time low of 42 cents in October 2015.

The popularity and trading volumes of cryptocurrencies started to snowball in 2017. CME Group’s announcement that it would launch bitcoin futures contracts drove Ethereum’s late 2017 rally. They were the first cryptocurrency-related products offered by a regulated U.S. financial institution. Ethereum closed 2017, trading at $756.73 per ETH.

What Is Ethereum?

Ether is Ethereum’s money or digital currency. People often say Ethereum, but what they’re really trading is ether—the cryptocurrency that runs on the Ethereum blockchain. Ethereum is the platform. Ether is the token used to pay for transactions and power apps on that platform. So, when someone says they’re trading Ethereum, they actually mean they’re trading ether.

Whenever you want to do something on Ethereum, like send a payment or use an app, you have to pay in ether. This payment is like a reward for the people who keep Ethereum running. Some of your ETH is burned (destroyed forever), and the rest goes to someone who helped process the request.

Ethereum Gas Price

Ethereum gas is the fee that network users pay to process transactions or use smart contracts on the network. Gas fees are akin to highway tolls. Users pay these fees to use the Ethereum blockchain.

The unit of measurement for gas fees is gwei. One gwei equals one billionth of 1 ETH.

How to Buy Ethereum (ETH)

Ethereum is one of the most widely traded cryptocurrencies in the world. Whether you buy it, earn it or swap other tokens for it, here’s how people are getting started with ETH.

Centralized exchanges are crypto’s equivalent of big banks or traditional online brokerages. You give them dollars, they give you ETH, though technically, they hold onto your ETH unless you move it to your own wallet. You don’t truly own it until it’s in your custody.

Well-known cryptocurrency exchanges include:

• Coinbase
• Binance.US
• Kraken
• Gemini
• BitFlyer

You can also trade ETH on traditional online brokerages like:

• Robinhood
• Interactive Brokers
• Webull

Even payment apps like Venmo and PayPal now allow users to buy and sell ETH, although the transfer and spending options are limited compared to a full crypto wallet.

And if you prefer something physical, crypto ATMs exist, too. You can search for one that sells Ethereum and make a purchase in person using cash or a debit card—just be prepared to pay higher fees.

How to Store Ethereum

Anyone buying Ethereum directly must store their ether in a cryptocurrency wallet. This is much like storing paper money in a physical wallet.

Private keys are needed to send or receive cryptocurrency in a digital wallet. The person who controls a wallet’s private keys controls all the cryptocurrency associated with the wallet.

Ethereum wallets can be hardware wallets resembling USB sticks or software wallet apps that store ETH on a smartphone or another device. Hot wallets are connected to the internet, while cold wallets are not. Hot wallets are generally considered more convenient, but cold wallets can be safer and more secure.

Ethereum ETFs

In addition to buying Ethereum directly, you can indirectly speculate on the Ethereum market via Ethereum funds.

The SEC approved the first wave of Ethereum futures ETFs in late 2023. These ETFs don’t invest in Ethereum directly but instead hold Ethereum futures contracts. Leading Ethereum futures ETFs include the VanEck Ethereum Strategy ETF (EFUT), the ProShares Ether ETF (EETH) and the Bitwise Trendwise Ethereum and Treasuries Rotation Strategy ETF (AETH).

In July 2024, ether spot ETFs made their debut. These include the iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA), the Fidelity Ethereum Fund (FETH) and the Grayscale Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHE).

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)