![Ether has a market value of about $230bn, compared with about $1.1 trillion for Bitcoin, according to data from CoinMarketCap.com [File: Luke MacGregor/Bloomberg]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/ether.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
The world’s second-largest cryptocurrency gained as much as 2.3% on Friday, having surged 170% this year alone.
From: Start Here
What’s behind the Bitcoin hype? | Start Here
5 Apr 2021
Related
![Nigeria is Africa's largest Bitcoin market by trading volume [File: Temilade Adelaja/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/2020-09-08T054641Z_1365493869_RC25UI96F3ZD_RTRMADP_3_CRYPTO-CURRENCIES-AFRICA.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Governments around the world are grappling with how to regulate cryptocurrencies without stifling crypto innovations.
![Bitcoin fell for a fifth day on Thursday to a two-week low, its longest losing streak since December [File: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/bitcoin-1.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
The $29.4 billion Grayscale Bitcoin Trust dropped about 20% so far this week as the retail-driven crypto craze cools.
![United States-based Goldin Auctions, which is known for dealing in high-value items including this 1914 Babe Ruth baseball card, announced it would accept Bitcoin and Ether based on 'demand from consumers' [File: Patrick Semansky/AP Photo]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/AP110923052762.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Goldin Auctions announced it will accept Bitcoin and Ether for payment in its sports memorabilia auctions.
![Queen Elizabeth's husband, Prince Philip, passed away on April 9, 2021 [File: Reuters/Oli Scarff/Pool]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/2012-05-09T130418Z_1490723185_RC21HY7WQ73R_RTRMADP_3_BRITAIN-ROYALS-PHILIP.jpg?resize=170%2C113)
![A healthcare worker shows vials of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine during a mass vaccination drive in Indonesia [Dedi Sinuhaji/EPA-EFE]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/h_56732935.jpg?resize=170%2C113)
![Pfizer-BioNTech said on April 1 its vaccine was about 91-percent effective at preventing COVID-19 [Getty Images]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/GettyImages-1231067259.jpg?resize=170%2C113)