Bitcoin has entered the seasonally bullish month of June on a positive note, but its recent gains look pale compared to that of ether (ETH), as the Ethereum blockchain approaches a key new iteration.<\/p>\n
Bitcoin, the top cryptocurrency by market value, rose by over 8% last week and ended May with a 9.5% gain. That came after bitcoin jumped by nearly 35% in April, according to\u00a0CoinDesk\u2019s Bitcoin Price Index<\/a>.<\/p>\n Meanwhile,\u00a0ether\u2019s price<\/a>\u00a0rose by 16% last week and 12% for the month of May. Growth in ether\u2019s non-price metrics, too, has been impressive compared to those for bitcoin.<\/p>\n For instance, the seven-day moving average of active ether addresses stood at a 12-month high of 337,986 on Sunday, according to data provided by blockchain intelligence firm Glassnode<\/a>. While ether\u2019s active addresses have risen by more than 10% over the last two weeks, active bitcoin addresses declined by nearly 5%.<\/p>\n On a more positive note, bitcoin outshone major traditional assets in May. Gold, a traditional safe-haven asset, rallied by 2% over the month. Meanwhile, 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%.<\/p>\n 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,\u00a0 ether is likely to benefit from Ethereum\u2019s upcoming switch to the proof-of-stake mechanism.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Looking forward<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n