In 2021, bitcoin and ether have seen huge rallies. In April 2021, the cryptocurrency market topped $2 trillion in value for the first time.<\/p>\n
Jaap Arriens | NurPhoto | Getty Images<\/p>\n
Cryptocurrency ethereum has outperformed bitcoin so far this year, and Morgan Stanley has given a number of reasons why.<\/p>\n
The \"alternative\" crypto coin is up around 240% this year, while the world's best-known cryptocurrency is up less than 38%.<\/p>\n
It's been a volatile few months in the crypto world, with bitcoin's value peaking in April at around $65,000 before falling back to around $30,000, while ether peaked in May at around $4,000 and is now trading around $2,500.<\/p>\n
Ether is viewed as an alternative to bitcoin. Fans like it for a number of reasons including the fact it underpins many other cryptocurrencies, but it's yet to be adopted by private institutions in the way that bitcoin has been.<\/p>\n
It's important to note that ether's market cap is less than half that of bitcoin's, but trading volumes for the smaller coin surged to $600 billion in May 60% higher than bitcoin volumes, according to Morgan Stanley.<\/p>\n
There are some key reasons for the outperformance of ether, according to the investment bank, which updated its views on crypto in a note last week.<\/p>\n
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