Ethereum (ETH) Price Outpaces Bitcoin (BTC) as DeFi Continues to Grow
U.Today -

Ethereum (ETH) holders have so far had a stellar month with the leading altcoin gaining 35 percent in 2020. For comparison, Bitcoin (BTC) has only gained 16 percent during the same time period.

According to Code to Inspire co-founder John Lilic, Ethereum has entered a phase where it now outperforms Bitcoin after gaining about more than 11 percent against its bitter rival. 

A strong month for Ethereum  

Even the cryptocurrency market is considered to be highly unpredictable, traders could have easily guessed that Ether would come to the fore this January by simply looking at its past performance. As reported by U.Today, Ethereum's price action historically tends to amp up at the beginning of each year.

In 2019, the price of Ethereum was subdued in January but it rocketed higher in February with an impressive 52 percent gain. Meanwhile, Bitcoin was struggling to surpass the $4,000 level, which took a toll on its market dominance.  

This year, Ethereum reached its 2020 high of $176.25 on Jan. 19 but has shed some of these gains after BTC's fake rally to $9,000.      

DeFi puts Ether in the spotlight     

The price growth comes hand in hand with an 8 percent increase in the amount of ETH locked up in decentralized finance (DeFi) applications. This is a positive development for the Ethereum price given that more than three percent of the coin's supply remains inaccessible.      

That said, it should be mentioned that DeFi is still a fledgling technology that might not be ready for the mainstream, according to Compound founder Robert Leshner. 

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin himself warned investors about some pitfalls of DeFi while urging them to exercise caution. 



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