The break in the Ethereum network’s native currency over $700 indicates an 11% rise in just 24 hours. Ether in the 11:00 UTC hour was as low as $624.76, just five hours before trading at $700.
The total value of ether, the second-highest cryptocurrency by market cap, was $80 billion as of press time.
Bitcoin has also been rallying over the weekend of Christmas, piercing the $29,000 mark at one point. It was trading in the $27,300 range before ether made its step higher than $700.
On the eight exchanges monitored by the CoinDesk 20, volume was significantly higher. More than $2.3 billion was the total amount of the ether changing hands on those exchanges. During the previous seven days, the estimated daily amount was $2.175 billion.