Ethereum used to be seen as the most likely challenger to Bitcoin’s status as the preeminent cryptocurrency, and the one best positioned to make the blockchain a more useful technology.
But as Bitcoin and many other cryptocurrencies have been soaring in recent months — thanks to President Donald Trump’s embrace — Ethereum has struggled to keep pace, despite hosting the second most valuable digital token, Ether. While Bitcoin has gone up about 160% over the last year, Ether has only risen 40%.