Ethereum has reached $500 for the first time on the strength of future plans and Indian markets opening up trading. Data from cross-exchange resource Coinmarketcap shows ETH currently trading around $525 at press time, topping new highs of $400 seen just six days ago.
The moves echo those of Bitcoin, which has added proportionately similar gains in a similar timeframe, and increased by $1000 in the past 24 hours alone. Co-founder Vitalik Buterin had unveiled the ecosystem’s roadmap at a Taiwan conference last week, eyeing Casper and other technical advances intended to address some of Ethereum’s current issues.
In addition, major Indian exchange app Zebpay added Ethereum trading as a direct response to user demand. In a blog post Monday, it revealed it would also add Litecoin, Ripple and Bitcoin Cash to its books.
Having begun the year at just $8, Ethereum is one of the miracles of 2017’s cryptocurrency explosion. Ethereum Classic, Litecoin, Monero and Dash also posted new all-time highs in USD today.