Ethereum price has surged in value over the past week, posting its largest gains in the last twenty-four hours. Several notable factors have contributed to this rise, which could have strong effects on the platform moving forward.

DEFI IS REDEFINING THE PLATFORM

Over the past year, decentralized finance (DeFi) has emerged as a major element of the blockchain space. DeFi includes any project that uses smart contracts to lend, hedge, or swap assets. Whereas there are many blockchain platforms capable of performing these functions, Ethereum has established a dominant position in the sector..

Presently more than USD $745 million is locked up in DeFi, almost all of it on the Ethereum network. This is more than double the number from one year ago, and although it declined in March, it is once again growing. There is no doubt that investors are taking notice, and understand that this has a strong potential to move Ethereum into the mainstream financial markets.

Maker is by-far the most popular DeFi platform, which only adds to Ethereum’s strength. However, many more DeFi projects are emerging. Also, Chainlink is the most popular oracle network, which also operates on Ethereum and is becoming a crucial player in many DeFi projects.

ETHEREUM FUTURES HAVE SPIKED

As prices have recovered, so too have trading volumes. Most notably, Ethereum has seen a significant spike in futures trading over the past twenty-four hours. SkewAnalytics has just posted data on Twitter showing the close correlation between Ethereum’s present price gain and futures volume.

Futures volumes doubled vs average of last two weeks pic.twitter.com/Miy1tzb9Iu

— skew (@skewdotcom) April 7, 2020

OkEx is clearly leading the increase and was recently announced as the largest derivatives exchange by volume last month, indicating a strong interest for Ethereum trading in Asia.

It is worth noting that big jumps in futures volume generally leads to volatility, and a price correction could rapidly occur if too many investors bet long on Ethereum’s price.

SERENITY UPGRADE IS COMING UP

In July the #2 cryptocurrency is slated to undergo its largest upgrade to-date. Ethereum 2.0, named “Serenity,” will transition the platform into a proof-of-stake consensus architecture. It will also play a key role in Ethereum’s scaling solution, thus enabling vastly more transaction capability.

In February the development team held a Reddit AMA where they expressed great confidence in Serenity launching on time. Once active, Ethereum 2.0 is expected to radically transform the entire platform ecosystem and open the door to mass use on a global scale. It thus stands to reason that investors are taking advantage of the present price before what they expect will be a major jump in value.

What do you think is the reason for the latest Ethereum price surge? Add your thoughts below!

Images via Shutterstock, Twitter @skewdotcom @