Cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin Climbs Above $60K

Summary Bitcoin's price climbed above the $60,000 level this past week. BTC is currently up ~52% year-to-date. Ether's price climbed higher, ending above $2,600. ETH is now up ~11% year-to-date. XRP, which is owned by Ripple and launched in 2012, was one of the larger cryptocurrencies for some time until new coins joined the market. XRP is currently down ~14% year-to-date. By Jennifer Nash This weekly update tracks some of the largest cryptocurrencies by market share: bitcoin and ether. While both are considered to be high risk when it comes to investing, the two have foundational differences that investors should know . We've also included XRP, as it was one of the largest cryptocurrencies when this series began. According to Wikipedia , a cryptocurrency is "a digital asset designed to work as a medium of exchange that uses cryptography to secure its transactions, to control the creation of additional units, and to verify the transfer of assets." Bitcoin Bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) was the world's first cryptocurrency and decentralized digital currency. The first bitcoin transaction occurred in early 2009 and has since grown worldwide. Bitcoin's price climbed above the $60,000 level this past week. BTC is currently up ~52% year-to-date. Ether Ether ( ETH-USD ) is another cryptocurrency run on the Ethereum blockchain platform and has the second-largest market share, despite being the newest of the three discussed in this article, with its launch in July 2015. Ether's price climbed higher, ending above $2,600. ETH is now up ~11% year-to-date. XRP XRP ( XRP-USD ), which is owned by Ripple and launched in 2012, was one of the larger cryptocurrencies for some time until new coins joined the market. We've included it in this article for reference. XRP is currently down ~14% year-to-date. Bitcoin vs. Ether vs. XRP An index has been created in order to chart these three cryptocurrencies together, considering their significantly different pricing histories. Bitcoin tops the chart. In other words, the price of a bitcoin has changed the most out of all three cryptocurrencies. On January 10th, the SEC approved spot bitcoin ETFs from a range of issuers such as Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF ( GBTC ), iShares Bitcoin Trust ( IBIT ), Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund ( FBTC ), ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF ( ARKB ), Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB), Coinshares Valkyrie Bitcoin Fund ( BRRR ). Here are some of the quick takeaways from the spot bitcoin ETF launch. On July 23rd, a handful of spot ether ETFs launched from a range of issuers such as Grayscale Ethereum Trust ( ETHE ), Franklin Ethereum ETF ( EZET ), Bitwise Ethereum ETF ( ETHW ), iShares Ethereum Trust ( ETHA ), Fidelity Ethereum ETF ( FETH ). Original Post Editor's Note: The summary bullets for this article were chosen by Seeking Alpha editors.