Ether reversed lower in late afternoon trading Tuesday, as the price of bitcoin pulled back following its brief run up to a new all-time high.
The price of ether was last lower by 5% at $3,412.64, according to Coin Metrics. Bitcoin retreated about 8% after it hit a record high above $69,000.
At one ponit on Tuesday, ether rose as much as 6.5% to $3,828.81, before bitcoin's slide pressured the rest of the crypto market. Many of the top coins by market cap took a tumble, including Binance Coin, Ripple's XRP, and the tokens tied to Cardano and Polygon. Even meme coins, which rocketed on Monday, fell.
Investors remain optmistic, however, on ether's setup in the near and medium term. It has benefited from the recent rally in bitcoin and tech stocks. A technical network upgrade this month and the possibility there could soon be spot ether ETFs available to trade in the U.S. also give long-term investors confidence. Ether is still up 51% for the year compared to bitcoin's 45% after its recent runup.
"Given the relative difference in ether and bitcoin's market cap, investors likely see additional upside growth potential in ETH relative to bitcoin in a world where both ETFs exist and they are viewed collectively as an asset class that will have continuous allocations from investment advisors and wealth managers," said David Wells, CEO of Enclave Markets.
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