Ethereum blasts to $1000 nears an all-time high

Alternative cryptocurrency ethereum stone-broke a recent record high Wednesday.

The digital currency was seen moving near the $1,000 mark, border up to associate incomparable high of $974.74 at concerning 6:40 p.m. ET, consistent with information from business web site CoinDesk.

It is presently the third-largest cryptocurrency by market price, when being dethroned by another altcoin, Ripple's XRP, last week.

Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin same during a journal post Tuesday that the non-profit foundation that oversees the blockchain network was launching 2 new grant programs to support analysis into the measurability and development of the distributed ledger.

Distributed ledgers store immense amounts of transactions on a redistributed network of computers.

"The Ethereum Foundation has started supply grants to assist it scale," Charles Hayter, corporate executive of Crypto Compare, told CNBC in associate email. "This network result can impress the community and facilitate ethereum to throw off its growing pains."

Ethereum's revived record high comes as bitcoin's dominance within the market swayback to its lowest level in history. consistent with CoinMarketCap information, the world's biggest virtual currency takes up a 3rd of the whole market.

"All the choice cryptocurrencies square measure having a healthy run into the twelvemonth as traders allocate and jump from hot theme to theme," Hayter same.

The blockchain network that underpins it, ethereum, has been operating with variety of high-profile monetary establishments together with UBS, Barclays and Credit Swiss Confederation.