Ethereum Price (ETH)
Ethereum (ETH/USD) live price dashboard
Ethereum (ETH) is the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap and the base asset of the leading smart-contract platform. As the backbone of DeFi, NFTs, and staking, track its live price and long-term trend here.
Key Metrics
Summarizes the current price, price level, and 52-week range.
History
Additional Information
What is Ethereum?
Ethereum is a programmable blockchain supporting smart contracts, underpinning the DeFi, NFT, and stablecoin ecosystems. Since its 2022 shift to proof-of-stake (PoS), staking demand has influenced its price.
Price drivers:
- On-chain activity such as DeFi and NFTs
- Staking demand and yields
- Network fees (gas) and ETH burned
- Protocol upgrades
- Risk-asset sentiment
Understanding the Ethereum Price
What does the Ethereum price represent?
The Ethereum price is the market price of ether (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization after Bitcoin. It trades continuously, 24 hours a day year-round, across global exchanges rather than being published by any institution. Ethereum is more than a payment network: it is a blockchain platform that executes smart contracts and underpins decentralized finance (DeFi), NFTs, and most stablecoins. Because transaction fees on the network, known as gas, are paid in ether, the price is linked to demand for using the platform itself.
How should the Ethereum price be interpreted?
Ethereum transitioned from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake in the 2022 upgrade known as The Merge, cutting its energy use dramatically and enabling holders to earn rewards by staking ETH. The price is highly correlated with Bitcoin, but network activity and expectations for on-chain ecosystem growth act as additional drivers. The ETH/BTC ratio is often used as a gauge of risk appetite within the crypto market itself. Ethereum's fee-burning mechanism, which removes a portion of transaction fees from supply, means heavier network usage restrains supply growth, a factor worth noting when interpreting price.
What does Ethereum mean for markets and portfolios?
Like Bitcoin, ether behaves as a risk asset sensitive to global liquidity and risk appetite, with volatility far above traditional assets and often above Bitcoin's as well. Since the approval of spot ETFs, institutional flows have become a meaningful price driver, while staking yields and on-chain activity serve as Ethereum-specific analytical inputs. Market participants commonly cross-check the Bitcoin price, the ETH/BTC ratio, U.S. interest rates and the dollar index, and on-chain measures such as total value locked in DeFi. Competition among smart-contract platforms and shifts in the regulatory environment are additional factors that shape the longer-term picture.