Second biggest crypto coin pumping

Ether led a broad cryptocurrency rally this week, heading for its strongest gains since 2021, bolstered by easing global trade tensions and optimism over a network upgrade.

The second-largest digital token by market value jumped as much as 14% on Friday to $2,490, extending its weekly advance to nearly 33%.

That marks its steepest weekly gain since 2021, when speculative excesses and low interest rates fueled the pandemic-era crypto boom.

Bitcoin, the industry bellwether, climbed as much as 1.7% to $104,336, as sentiment improved across digital assets following a new trade pact between the US and UK.

The agreement signals a thaw in global economic relations after a period of escalating tariffs under President Donald Trump, which had rattled risk markets. 

“Momentum is strong and could persist,” said Valentin Fournier, lead research analyst at BRN. “The new breakout and policy support are likely to draw in new buyers.” 

The rebound in Ether also reflects renewed investor focus on Ethereum’s ongoing technological upgrade.

The network, widely regarded as crypto’s commercial backbone, recently implemented the Pectra upgrade.

The changes are designed to reduce transaction fees, improve network efficiency, and enable more complex wallet functionalities — moves seen as necessary to fend off competition from faster-growing rivals like Solana.

Liquidations in bets on crypto assets have soared in the lead-up before Bitcoin broke $100,000 on Thursday, with over $1.1 billion in the past 24 hours.

The liquidation in short positions on Wednesday is the highest since at least Nov. 10 at $836 million, according to data compiled by Coinglass. Liquidations in bearish bets against Ether contributed $290 million over the last day.

Such liquidations tend to spur crypto prices higher as short sellers usually rush to buy to cover their positions.

Short-dated Bitcoin options remain hedge-focused, with puts expiring on May 30 at the strike of $65,000, are seeing the second highest open interest, followed by calls at the strike of $100,000, according to data from the largest crypto options exchange Deribit.

Contracts across all tenors reflect a bullish outlook.

Despite the recent rally, Ether remains down roughly 50% from its all-time high reached in November 2021, continuing to lag behind Bitcoin and other top-performing digital assets.