Ether Leads Bitcoin on Price as Investors Prepare for Staking Arrival

Bitcoin has entered the seasonally bullish month of June on a positive note, but its recent gains look pale compared to that of ether, as the Ethereum blockchain approaches a key new iteration.

That came after bitcoin jumped by nearly 35% in April, according to CoinDesk's Bitcoin Price Index.

Ether's price rose by 16% last week and 12% for the month of May. Growth in ether's non-price metrics, too, has been impressive compared to those for bitcoin.

While ether's active addresses have risen by more than 10% over the last two weeks, active bitcoin addresses declined by nearly 5%.On a more positive note, bitcoin outshone major traditional assets in May. Gold, a traditional safe-haven asset, rallied by 2% over the month.

The dollar index, which tracks the value of the greenback against major currencies, fell by over 0.5% and the S&P 500 index rose by 4.5%.Analysts expect both bitcoin and ether to maintain their bullish momentum over the near-term.

While seasonality is positive for bitcoin in June, supporting the case for an extension of its two-month winning streak, ether is likely to benefit from Ethereum's upcoming switch to the proof-of-stake mechanism.

Ethereum's impending transition from a proof-of-work mechanism to proof-of-stake in a major upgrade dubbed Ethereum 2.0 likely boded well for ether in May. Buying pressure for the cryptocurrency may remain strong in the near term, with the launch of Eth 2.0 due in Q3, 2020."It's hard to be bearish with Ethereum staking coming soon. I suspect there will be a lot more ether staked than the projected 10-30 million. Perhaps even 50 million-plus if a lot of people select to stake through exchanges/rocket pool," tweeted David Schwartz, a senior software engineer at Nash, a decentralized exchange.

The sharp rise in the number of addresses holding 32 ETH or more, an amount a holder is required to maintain as a balance to become a validator on Eth 2.0, suggests investors are accumulating coins in preparation for the upgrade.

Put simply, the market expects ether to fare better than bitcoin.

Lennix Lai, director of financial markets at cryptocurrency exchange OKEx, expects bitcoin and the broader cryptocurrency market to benefit from the increased investor interest in ether.