Ethereum’s Trading Volumes Outpaced Bitcoin’s in H1 2021

The total trading volumes for Ethereum grew at 14X to $1.4 trillion in H1 2021 from around $92 billion in the same period last year. Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s increased to $2.1 trillion for a 4.8X expansion within the same period. It is the first time Ethereum's trading volumes posted more than Bitcoin’s.

The expansion of trading volumes, a marker of interest, coincides with their respective gains. Bitcoin prices surged from around $8k to peak at $64k in H1 2021. Analysts pinned this increment on inflation fears due to governments’ money printing in their bid to cushion its citizens against the coronavirus pandemic.

At the same time, Ethereum drew maximum benefits and, therefore, interest from DeFi and NFTs. DeFi now manages over $70 billion of assets, up from roughly $1 billion in early 2020. This directly lifted ETH prices to a new all-time high above $4.2k. The influx of new DeFi users and investors keen on capitalizing rapid price expansion of ETH attracted trading volumes, explaining the platform’s outperforming Bitcoin.

In the last bull cycle, Ethereum also outperformed Bitcoin when it surged from below $200 to blast above $1.4k to new all-time highs.

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