Ether (ETH) is the native currency of Ethereum, the largest smart contract blockchain and the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation. ETH pays for every transaction on the network, secures it through staking, and is the main collateral asset in decentralised finance. This page tracks the live ETH price and explains what drives it.
Ethereum’s current price is $2,305.25, with a market cap of $281.7B and rank #2. ETH has moved −0.4% over the last 24 hours and −3.9% over seven days, on a 24-hour trading volume of $8.60B.
Its all-time high is $4,946.05, reached on 24th August 2025.
What is Ethereum?
Ethereum is a public blockchain that runs programs called smart contracts. Vitalik Buterin described the idea in a white paper in late 2013, a public presale of ether followed in mid-2014, and the network went live on 30 July 2015.
Where Bitcoin is mainly a payment and savings network, Ethereum is a platform for applications: tokens, stablecoins, lending markets, exchanges, NFTs and many layer-2 networks that settle back to it. Every action on the network costs a fee, called gas, paid in ETH. Since September 2022 the chain has been secured by proof-of-stake: validators lock up ETH and earn rewards for proposing and checking blocks.
Ethereum price chart
The chart at the top of this page plots ETH’s price in US dollars over the last 30 days.
What moves the Ethereum price
Like any freely traded asset, ETH’s price comes from supply and demand on exchanges. Several factors are specific to Ethereum.
Network activity and fees
Demand for block space is demand for ETH. When people use Ethereum more, they pay more in fees, and part of every fee is burned (see the supply section below). Busy periods therefore increase both the need to hold ETH and the amount removed from supply. Quiet periods do the opposite.
DeFi and stablecoins
Much of the value locked in decentralised finance sits on Ethereum, and ETH is widely used as collateral for loans and stablecoins. Rising DeFi activity tends to lock up more ETH; sharp price falls can trigger liquidations of ETH-backed loans, which adds selling pressure. You can follow the protocols on the network on our Ethereum DeFi page, including the liquid staking and lending sectors.
Staking
ETH that is staked with validators cannot be sold instantly; it has to go through a withdrawal queue. A large staked share reduces the coins readily available on exchanges, while big waves of withdrawals can do the opposite. Our list of crypto staking platforms explains how staking works in practice.
Layer-2 networks
Rollups such as Arbitrum, Optimism and Base process transactions off the main chain and post the data back to Ethereum. Upgrades since 2024 have made that data much cheaper to post, which lowered fees for users but also reduced the fees, and the ETH burned, on the main chain. How much value flows back to ETH from layer-2 activity is one of the main debates around its price.
ETFs, Bitcoin and the wider market
US spot Ether ETFs started trading on 23 July 2024, giving traditional investors a route into ETH through a brokerage account. ETF flows are now a regular demand signal. ETH also tends to move with Bitcoin and with risk assets in general, so interest rates, liquidity and broad market sentiment matter as much as Ethereum-specific news.
Regulation
How regulators treat ETH, staking and DeFi applications shapes which products are offered and who can access them. The approval of the spot ETFs served as one instance of a regulatory decision that broadened access.
Ethereum price history: key milestones
- Late 2013: Vitalik Buterin publishes the Ethereum white paper.
- Mid-2014: the ether presale raises funds in bitcoin to build the network.
- 30 July 2015: the Frontier release launches the Ethereum mainnet.
- 17 June 2016: an attacker drains about 3.6 million ETH from The DAO. On 20 July 2016 a hard fork reverses the theft; the unchanged chain continues as Ethereum Classic.
- 5 August 2021: the London upgrade activates EIP-1559, which burns the base fee of every transaction.
- 15 September 2022: the Merge moves Ethereum from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake and cuts its energy use by an estimated 99.95%.
- 12 April 2023: the Shapella upgrade enables withdrawals of staked ETH.
- 13 March 2024: the Dencun upgrade adds “blob” data for rollups, cutting layer-2 fees.
- 23 May and 23 July 2024: the SEC approves the exchange rule changes for spot Ether ETFs, which then start trading in July.
- 7 May 2025: the Pectra upgrade raises blob capacity and changes staking limits.
- 3 December 2025: the Fusaka upgrade introduces PeerDAS, allowing a further increase in rollup data capacity.
Ethereum supply
Ethereum has no maximum supply. The genesis block in July 2015 created about 72 million ETH, most of it for presale buyers, and new ETH has been issued to secure the network ever since.
Two changes reshaped that supply. EIP-1559, live since 5 August 2021, burns the base fee paid on every transaction, permanently removing that ETH. The Merge on 15 September 2022 ended mining rewards; according to ethereum.org, total new issuance fell by about 88%, leaving only the rewards paid to stakers.
The result is that ETH’s net supply depends on activity. When the network is busy and fees are high, more ETH is burned than issued and supply shrinks. When fees are low, issuance outweighs the burn and supply grows slowly. Supply changes are therefore one more reason network usage feeds into the ETH price.
How to buy Ethereum
ETH is listed on almost every major crypto exchange and broker, and spot Ether ETFs are available in some markets. Our step-by-step guide on how to buy and sell Ethereum covers choosing a platform, funding an account and moving ETH to a wallet you control. Remember that ETH is volatile and you should only invest what you can afford to lose.
To compare ETH with other coins, see our cryptocurrency price tracker, the Bitcoin price page, or the Solana price page for another smart contract network.
FAQs
What is the difference between Ethereum and Ether?
Ethereum is the blockchain network. Ether (ETH) is its native currency, used to pay transaction fees and to stake with validators. In everyday use, people often call the coin Ethereum too.
Does Ethereum have a maximum supply?
No. Unlike Bitcoin, ETH has no hard cap. New ETH is issued to stakers, while the base fee of every transaction is burned, so the total supply can rise or fall depending on how busy the network is.
What was the Merge?
The Merge, completed on 15 September 2022, switched Ethereum from proof-of-work mining to proof-of-stake. It cut the network's energy use by an estimated 99.95% and reduced new ETH issuance by about 88%.
Why does the ETH price follow Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is the largest crypto asset, and many investors move in and out of the whole market at once. Interest rates, liquidity and sentiment therefore tend to push both assets in the same direction, even though Ethereum also has its own drivers such as network fees and staking.
Can I stake ETH?
Yes. You can run a validator with 32 ETH, stake through an exchange, or use a liquid staking protocol that gives you a token representing your staked ETH. Each option has its own risks and fees.
