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Bitcoin's meteoric rise continues to attract attention — its price crossed the $3,000 mark for the first time on Sunday — but other cryptocurrencies have also been seeing major gains.

Among these is Ether, which has seen growth of 3,000% over the past month — higher than any other major digital asset — and was trading at $337 at the time of this writing. Ether is a token issued by the Ethereum network, and the two terms are sometimes used interchangeably.

Here are a couple of possible reasons why Ether prices have boomed recently:

Endorsement from mainstream players. Major financial services and tech players including Accenture, Banco Santander, BNY Mellon, Intel, JPMorgan, and Microsoft launched the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA) in March with a mandate to optimize Ethereum's technology — which can only be accessed by buying Ether tokens — for enterprise use. Endorsement from such trusted and high-profile corporations may have gained Ether valuable exposure and boosted prices.

Structural flexibility. Unlike Bitcoin, Ether tokens do not have a maximum fixed blocksize, meaning that each token can store more information. As such, the cryptocurrency as a whole can be scaled more easily, boosting its processing power. Recently, concerns have emerged that Bitcoin may reach its scaling limit, leading to a "fork." Ether's unlimited blocksize, which makes it free from such drawbacks, may be strengthening investor confidence, and thus Ether prices.

Ether's rise could have consequences for the cryptocurrency asset class as a whole. Ether's impressive growth rate is just one of many indicators that digital assets beyond Bitcoin are becoming increasingly popular with investors. This general and spreading demand for what is still an alternative asset class could soon push it into the mainstream, providing a much-needed catalyst for regulators to follow their Swiss and Japanese counterparts in issuing a legal framework dedicated to cryptocurrencies.

Most fintechs, even the unicorns, aren't profitable.

Despite having innovative ideas and live products that are successfully disrupting the financial services industry, these fintechs' business models are increasingly proving to be fundamentally flawed.

Sarah Kocianski, senior research analyst for BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled a detailed report on fintech profitability that explores the reasons why fintechs are struggling to turn a profit by providing examples of the unique problems each segment of fintech faces. It also outlines what some firms are doing to overcome these challenges, and highlights the key factors to be considered by fintechs and their investors if they want to reach profitability.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the report:

Even the largest fintechs have failed to achieve meaningful profits. For example, British unicorns Transferwise and Funding Circle have seen ever-increasing losses since launch — in the latter's case to the tune of £37 million ($48 million) in its most recent filing.

The profitability question is becoming increasingly important. That's due to a combination of factors including declining VC investment in the sector and increasing pressure from existing investors to see returns.

Not all fintechs want to turn a profit, but those that do are facing significant challenges. Obstacles to profitability affect all fintech segments including neobanking, robo-advising, money transfer, and marketplace lending.

Forced to adapt their models, fintechs are employing multiple tactics to reach profitability. These include partnerships, diversification of funding sources, acting as third-party suppliers to other firms, adding new products, and seeking global expansion.

There a number of considerations that fintechs and their investors must make, and several actions they must take, to get on the path to profitability. These include deciding whether to focus on scale, establishing a stable business plan, and assessing the benefits of varied funding sources.

In full, the report:



Explains why the profitability question is increasingly being raised.

Outlines why fintechs in different segments are failing to turn a profit.

Gives examples of just how large some fintechs' losses are.

Explores how fintechs are striving to solve the profitability problem.

Outlines vital considerations for fintechs and their investors.

Interested in getting the full report? Here are two ways to access it: