Crypto currency Ethereum tokens (Ethers) have reached $1,000 on multiple major exchanges for the first time ever. This is an all-time high and the result of a multiple-day rally. The total market capitalization of others currently available is now $100 billion. One week ago, Ether was trading at USD 752. Since then, it has seen a surge of about 40 percent in its valuation. For the major part of December, the value of one Ether was swinging between USD 700 and USD 800.

It is currently the third-largest cryptocurrency by market value, after being dethroned by another altcoin, Ripple's XRP, last week. Its market capitalization shot above $100 billion for the first time Thursday, according to Coinmarketcap data. 

© ETHNews

Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin said in a blog post-Tuesday that the non-profit foundation that oversees the blockchain network was launching two new subsidy programs to support research into the scalability and development of the distributed ledger. Distributed ledgers store vast amounts of transactions on a decentralized network of computers.

Ethereum also runs on a blockchain, also maintained by miners. But unlike the Bitcoin blockchain, Ethereum is designed specifically to carry out “smart contracts,” which are automated agreements for an exchange of value. (also called “scripting.”) Smart contracts are a way to cut the middleman out of financial transactions; a network of nodes carry out agreements by independently verifying them. The Ethereum blockchain not only records every ether transaction, but also the most up-to-date form of every smart contract.

© Ehtereum Founder Vitalik Buterin, Picture by TechCrunch

Banking giants have also increasingly looked to Ethereum for another set of solutions. In mid-December, a group of financial companies including UBS, Credit Suisse, and Barclays announced plans to test the Ethereum blockchain in the hopes of making it easier to meet new European Union reporting standards under the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II.

Ripple, however, has overshadowed Ethereum's recent rise, with the former cryptocurrency now ranking as the second largest by market capitalization, according to CoinMarketCap—outranking Ethereum's $100 billion value by nearly $40 billion.

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The largest cryptocurrency by market cap, Bitcoin, is down on the day, having dropped from its week's high of $15,393, according to CoinDesk's Bitcoin Price Index (BPI). Bitcoin has mostly traded sideways over the last week, with prices staying in the $13,000 to $14,000 range interrupted briefly with a drop to nearly $12,000 on Dec. 30.