2020 has been an impressive yr for the Ethereum network and Ether (ETH) price. In November the Eth2 deposit contract quietly launched and earlier the end of the month the contract had reached chapters with 524,288 Ether locked.

When Blackness Thursday occured on March 12, nearly every cryptocurrency had its price crushed and Ether was non spared from the carnage. After trading for as little as $86 on March 12, Ether cost recovered to post a year-to-date gain of 322% and the altcoin set a 2020 high at $635.70 on Dec.1.

Despite the accolades being lauded upon Bitcoin equally it broke to a new all-fourth dimension high today, Ethereum price has actually outperformed BTC in 2020.

Ether versus Bitcoin performance (year-to-date). Source: Digital Assets Data

Despite this stellar performance, Ether is still approximately 59% below its 2018 all-time high at $1,431 all-time loftier. Fifty-fifty with the toll sitting far beneath its all-time high, the top altcoin'due south $67 billion market capitalization has surpassed automaker Full general Motors and that of the CME Group.

It is worth noting that these comparisons are debatable as listed companies have assets, liabilities, capital expenditure, sales, and employees. While the aforementioned cannot be said for Ether, traders will compare the ii nonetheless.

Long-term investors tend to establish multiple competition scenarios, growth analysis, and run valuation multiples. Meanwhile, traders will care by and large about cost and volume.

Aside from the differences in the two assets and the drivers of their value, it is worth noting that some of the newer trading platforms offer cryptocurrencies and stock trading simultaneously.

Mobile app-based brokerages similar East*Trade, RobinHood, and eToro accept tens of millions of users and equally the effortless on-ramp offered past these platforms will make it easier for a wider swath of investors to interact with digital avails.

How Ether compares against companies with similar market place capitalization

Colgate-Palmolive is a fellow member of the Due south&P 500 index and the company has a $73 billion market cap. The company was founded in 1806 and presented a $ii.7 billion net income over the by 12 months.

U.Southward. Bancorp likewise has a $67 billion market place cap, is the fifth-largest American bank and as well is a member of the Southward&P 500. The visitor was founded in 1968 and also owns Elevon, a credit card processor.

Lastly, at a $64 billion market cap, CME Group owns the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, which was founded 172 years ago. Its net income totaled $ii.1 billion over the last 12 months, and the stock also comprises the South&P 500 alphabetize.

While Ether shares a similar sized market place cap, it is nothing like the companies listed above. The cryptocurrency holds no balance canvass or income statement. Therefore Ether behaves more like commodities like gold, oil, and Bitcoin. The chairman of the U.S. Article Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has also expressed a similar indicate of view.

ETH vs. like market place capitalization companies, USD billion. Source: TradingView

As conspicuously depicted in the chart higher up, at that place are hardly any similarities between Ether and listed companies. While those stocks merchandise an average of $283 1000000 per day, the cryptocurrency does over $2 billion, co-ordinate to data from Messari.

The same can be said about Ether's volatility, the standard measure out for average daily price oscillations. Cryptocurrencies tend to have much stronger movements, mostly because they do not rely on sales or growth expectations.

90-twenty-four hours volatility of ETH, USB U.s.a., CME United states of america, CL US. Source: TradingView

While Ether's annualized ninety-day rate surpasses 80%, information technology stands at 20% for Colgate-Palmolive and 32% for CME. Meanwhile, U.S. Bancorp shows a 47% volatility and, although this is unusually high for most equities, it is still a mile away from the levels seen amongst cryptocurrencies.

Growth companies have given Ether a run for the money

Not all companies are alike, and a select few tech ones have been competing with Ether'southward bull run. For example, Zillow has been on a run with a $25 billion market capitalization, and and then has Foursquare, which is at $94 billion.

Ether (ETH) vs. Zillow (Z The states) and Square (SQ US). Source: TradingView

Both Zillow and Square managed to double their acquirement over the past two years and each tremendous potential market share growth within their sector.

Unlike Ether, they carry the weight of capital letter expenditures, marketing, and other growing pains. Despite this, both even so managed to mail service 220% gains over the past 13 months.

Crypto and stocks are becoming less of an apples and oranges conversation

Information technology is a relatively fruitless exercise to imagine the potential market for Ether. Kickoff, cryptocurrency penetration is minimal, and contempo studies testify that only 7% of Americans have bought Bitcoin. Therefore, the per centum of those effectively using the Ethereum ecosystem is much smaller.

Unlike the listed companies, Ether is a part of an open-source software. Thus upgrades and new arrangement interconnections are possible. While it's hard to braze value to the network's power to evolve, the launch of today's Ethereum 2.0 genesis block could be viewed every bit an example since Ether price saw an impressive rally leading into the upgrade.

To conclude, information technology is fair to say that Ether has much higher potential than the vast majority of listed companies but this doesn't mean investors will disregard evaluating its marketplace capitalization against growth tech companies.

The views and opinions expressed hither are solely those of the autho r and exercise non necessarily reverberate the views of Cointelegraph. Every investment and trading motion involves risk. Y'all should conduct your own research when making a decision.