Ether hits $500 for the first time since June 2018

Ether (ETH) returned to $500 for the first time in more than two years on Nov. 20 as altcoins slowly staged a comeback from poor performance. Data from Cointelegraph Markets, Coin360 and TradingView showed ETH/USD briefly hitting the psychologically significant barrier in Friday trading before a rejection halted progress.

Despite being capped at roughly 6% daily gains at press time, Ether’s achievement delighted traders, who noted that overall in 2020, the largest altcoin has outperformed even Bitcoin (BTC). Year-to-date returns stand at 284% for Ether and 155% for Bitcoin.

Versus the pit of its price lows in mid March, just after the coronavirus-induced cross-asset crash, Bitcoin was still the strongest player. At the time, ETH/USD traded at just $117, making Friday’s levels an increase of 327%, while BTC/USD gained 411% from $3,600 to $18,420.

Alongside the $500 visit — Ether’s first since June 2018 — other major altcoins also showed signs of life, notably Litecoin (LTC), which with 12% gains outperformed Bitcoin on the day, and is the only major altcoin to outperform BTC in the past month — by 7%.