The Rise and Fall and Rise of Ether in 2017

To say it’s been a watershed year for ether is something of an understatement. The cryptocurrency, which powers the Ethereum network, started the year at under $10 and closed it at around $700, making it a very happy new year for some investors.

Looking back at the closing days of 2016 and the start of 2017, few could have predicted such a meteoric rise (at one point, ether hit the $800+ mark); but then few would have anticipated that 2017 would be the year the cryptocurrency market went firmly mainstream.

At the end of 2016, ether fell to a seven-month low, with the cryptocurrency struggling to pass the $8 mark as 2017 rolled around. By mid-January, it had topped $10 (a price below which it has not dipped since) and doubled to above $20 in early March. That increase resulted from burgeoning interest from institutional investors and the positive news that U.S. start-up Coinbase had received approval from regulators in New York to start trading crypto in the state.

By the end of March, ether was trading above $50, but found its level at above $40 towards the second half of April, a figure that climbed to $80 by May 1 and $200 by the month’s end, a rise of roughly 3,000 percent since the start of the year.

Like all markets, what goes up can – and usually does – come down. On June 21 following a flash crash (a rapid decline in the price of one or more commodities or securities, typically one caused by automated trading) on Coinbase’s GDAX exchange the value of ethereum plummeted to $13.

The fall was short-lived with ether clawing its way back up to $300 by mid-month, only to drop again to below $200 by mid-July before hitting $400 in August. In September, ether fell below $250, with prices breaking $300 at the start of October.

As the year drew to a close, ether strengthened and surged. The currency broke the $500 barrier in November and reached an all-time high of $800 on December 19.

Even though ether was affected – like all other cryptocurrencies – by the 30 percent decline on December 22, it finished the year out near the top of its valuation at $700 making its position much stronger heading into 2018 than when the year began. Who knows where it will end in 2018.