Cramer: Here's why I bought back into ether instead of bitcoin when crypto stabilized last week

Published Mon, Jun 28 202110:37 AM EDTUpdated Mon, Jun 28 202111:52 AM EDT

Kevin Stankiewicz @in/kevin-stankiewicz-b5593466 @kevin_stank

CNBC's Jim Cramer said Monday he recently added to his holdings of ether , the world's second-largest cryptocurrency by market value. The "Mad Money" host had trimmed his position in ether — which runs on the Ethereum blockchain — in early May after the digital currency hit what was then a series of record highs . "I went back into Ethereum because bitcoin held [$30,000]," Cramer said on "Squawk Box," referencing bitcoin's stabilization above that key support level after the cryptocurrency briefly plunged below $29,000 last week . Exactly one week ago, Cramer said he "sold almost all of my bitcoin," citing in large part concerns around China's crackdown on bitcoin mining and crypto-related activities. Bitcoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency, traded around $34,400 per unit Monday morning. But that's off 47% from its all-time high near $65,000 in April. Ether was up more than 10% Monday, trading slightly north of $2,000. However, it remained down more than 50% from its all-time high above $4,300 on May 12 . Nearly a week before that, Cramer indicated he sold half of his ether holdings as the cryptocurrency set what was then a record above $3,400 . Cramer said Monday he decided to enlarge his ether position because he believes it has more everyday utility than bitcoin, which many crypto bulls hold up as store of value akin to digital gold even though some companies do accept it as a payment . "I like Ethereum because people actually use it much more to be able to buy things, and I'm going to continue to buy Ethereum," Cramer said. "I think it's just got a little more game, because when you go buy an NFT or anything like that, everybody wants it in Ethereum. It's more of a currency." An NFT, or nonfungible token, is a digital asset that is unique by design, with ownership being recorded on a blockchain, which is a decentralized digital ledger. NFTs exploded in popularity earlier this year for anything from basketball highlights to rock albums to digital artworks, including one from the artist Beeple that sold for $69 million . While there are indications that the initial NFT craze has cooled , proponents of the asset class and blockchain technology more broadly see a promising, long-term future. Many applications for so-called decentralized finance , or DeFi, run on the Ethereum blockchain. DeFi aims to recreate aspects of the traditional finance system with cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin and ether are the two most prominent cryptocurrencies.

Jaap Arriens | NurPhoto | Getty Images

CNBC's Jim Cramer said Monday he recently added to his holdings of ether, the world's second-largest cryptocurrency by market value.

The "Mad Money" host had trimmed his position in ether — which runs on the Ethereum blockchain — in early May after the digital currency hit what was then a series of record highs.

"I went back into Ethereum because bitcoin held [$30,000]," Cramer said on "Squawk Box," referencing bitcoin's stabilization above that key support level after the cryptocurrency briefly plunged below $29,000 last week.