2020 has seen Ethereum’s cryptocurrency Ether performance stabilize, largely outperforming its main rival, Bitcoin. Many enthusiasts claim that Ether’s time is coming and that Ethereum will become even more popular soon, especially as people increasingly recognize it as a hedge against gold markets.

Signs of improvement include more projects being developed on the network and growing interest from serious investors. The entire network shows solid fundamentals, and Ethereum currently stands in the spotlight, with its time to shine just ahead.

Let’s examine some signs that show how this cryptocurrency continues to improve and gain popularity every day.

Accredited Investors Are Willing to Pay Huge Premiums

The Grayscale Ethereum Trust is an essential link in the process of buying the cryptocurrency. It is mainly used by institutional investors who can invest in the cryptocurrency without facing regulatory issues along the way. In other words, the Trust is established to attract more investors who are experienced and help them avoid the direct crypto purchase process.

These investors are now ready to pay a 220% premium using the Grayscale Ethereum Trust. What does that mean?

Basically, they trust that the network and the crypto will be so successful that they are willing to take a risk by overpaying for their shares. One share of Ethereum Trust is trading for $106.50 at the moment of writing.

Even relatively inexperienced investors can find out how to get started with Ethereum cryptocurrency and learn about the platform, its cryptocurrency and what makes it stand out from the rest.

Ether Is a Safe Haven and a Hedge

San Jose University studied ether using data collected from December 2017 to December 2018. The researchers concluded that Ethereum’s cryptocurrency acts as a hedge against gold markets and the US stock market.

Moreover, the study found that Ethereum’s asset behaves much like a gold market safe haven.

This study is not final and much more in-depth research needs to be conducted to confirm these claims. Nevertheless, these statements already prove that Ethereum is doing pretty well among investors.

ConsenSys and Quorum Merger

Quorum is a blockchain project commenced by the largest bank in the US — JPMorgan. However, there are talks going on that Quorum might be merged with ConsenSys. It’s a platform founded by Joe Lubin, one of the co-founders of Ethereum.

Apart from that, the entire Quorum blockchain is built with the help of the Ethereum network. It is planned to be JPMorgan’s digital currency basis.

If the deal becomes a reality, JPMorgan will invest a lot of money in Ethereum’s cryptocurrency. In other words, whoever partners up with the most powerful bank of the most powerful economy in the world is bound to receive huge benefits from it. It just so seems that Ethereum is on its way to do it via the Quorum/ConsenSys merger.

Price of Ether Is Skyrocketing

At the time of writing, the price of a single unit of Ether is approximately $206, and although this isn’t the quite high’s of around $280 experienced earlier on in the year, experts predict the price is set to increase in the future.

The current price may not be a definitive indicator of the network’s success, but there’s definitely a correlation between the two. The daily Gas usage on Ethereum has reached record-high numbers since September 2019, as visible on Glassnode.

Therefore, the number of users is increasing, as well. Compared to last week, the number of Ethereum addresses has increased by more than 21%. Moreover, the number of transactions have also grown substantially.

Decentralised Finance Apps Top $1 Billion

The amount of money currently invested in the so-called DeFi applications has increased to more than $1 billion. DeFi stands for Decentralised Finance and apps built around this idea seem to have attracted a lot of attention from investors.

According to Kin Warwick, the founder of Synthetix, people are starting to understand the benefits of having finance applications on a decentralised platform, which also serves as a hedge against gold markets. The amount of money staked in them definitely proves his point.

Future Is Never Certain

Although things are looking pretty good for Ethereum at the moment, one should not assume that the situation is going to remain the same for a long time.

The blockchain industry and the crypto world remain very young, so the future could bring many changes. What matters now is that Ethereum performs well, and many people show their trust by investing in it and supporting it in various ways.