According to eToro, a popular multi-asset trading platform, investors are very bullish about Ethereum because of DeFi.
The company published a report about the global investment done on the platform in August, revealing that investors returned to marge market capitalized altcoins such as Ethereum but also such as Ripple and Tezos, which all experienced a trading increase last month.
All the most famous altcoins were up in August except Cardano’s ADA, always according to the data of eToro. Investors were also flocked into EOS and TRON to capture a late altcoin rally.
EOS saw a 640% increase in month on month trades on eToro, jumped from the 15th most traded crypto in July to 7th in August.
Justin Sun’s TRON made similar moves, from 12th to 8th with a 390% increase in month on month trading activity. Investors took advantage of both coins’ price rises, with EOS up 28% year-to-date and TRON up an impressive 126%.
Cardano’s ADA, which was the third most traded crypto asset in July, dropped to fifth with a 21% decrease in investment activity on eToro compared to the previous month. Cardano successfully implemented its Shelley upgrades as it moved to a decentralised network. Despite this, the coin fell from $0.139 on the 1st of August, to $0.117 on the 31st.
Tezos, one of the first blockchains to use a proof of stake mechanism, moved up one position to fourth, as investors took advantage of the coin’s upwards price trajectory. Tezos has been one of the most popular assets over the past 12 months, with trading activity in August 2020 up a staggering 1365% compared with August last year.
Simon Peters, market analyst and crypto expert at eToro, explained:
“Tezos saw a significant increase in trades on eToro, with the crypto asset trading lower against bitcoin at the start of August, which may have encouraged some inflows into the token. Having already announced a partnership with China’s Blockchain Service Network, Tezos recently announced the integration of Harbinger price oracles. This allows the Tezos network to use real world pricing data for DeFi applications, which I see as being very positive for the long term success of the network. The question now is, will altcoins maintain retail investor interest, or will rising bitcoin prices usurp their popularity?”
Ethereum on the rise because of DeFi
Ethereum saw a particularly strong increase in popularity, constituting a 123% increase in trades compared to July. The Ethereum platform has been a major beneficiary in the exceptional rise of decentralised finance (DeFi), a theme which has been around since 2017 but exploded over the past month.
Also, Ethereum also launched its Medalla testnet at the beginning of August as it begins its transition to a proof of stake mechanism, about which a lot of users are very enthusiastic about.
Simon Peters commented:
“August saw massive increases for top altcoins in particular EOS and TRON, as investors sought to take advantage of their excellent price performance. Investors also flocked to Ethereum in August, as co-founder Vitalik Buterin and team continue to roll out their much anticipated 2.0 upgrade. The release of the Medalla testnet in August, an important development on the road to ETH 2.0, faced some teething problems but was clearly a step in the right direction. With Ethereum now sitting at $462, the price rise is clearly a statement of intent from the DeFi community. The increase in activity around Ethereum shows investors recognising the potential that exists in the DeFi space.”
