Between January but also May 2017 the price of one ether climbed from eight dollars to one hundred eighty dollars. Daily transaction volume rose above one billion dollars. Demand for the network came from two directions – retail users who purchased ether through exchanges, and developers who built decentralised applications that lock tokens in smart contracts.
Microsoft, Intel, JPMorgan, BP along with Samsung joined the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance. Each corporation funds pilot projects that run on private forks of the public chain. The alliance publishes specifications for privacy layers, permissioned validators, and off-chain settlement channels.
Developers prepare the Metropolis release. The protocol will replace proof-of-work with Casper proof-of-stake. The change reduces electricity use by ninety nine per cent and lowers the inflation rate to one per cent per annum.
Speculative inflows now exceed utility driven demand. Traders cite the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance roadmap, Metropolis testnet results, and the ICO pipeline as catalysts for further appreciation.
Market capitalisation reached sixteen billion dollars at 02:30 EST on 25 May 2017.