Ethereum is mooning. The currency has risen above $40 in the past 24 hours, with its market cap nearing $4 billion, while overall trading volumes are not far off from bitcoin. At Poloniex, eth has actually surpassed bitcoin’s dollar trading volumes, rising above $10 million.

In eth’s main trading public space, r/ethtrader, which yesterday had as good as many online active users as r/bitcoin, a party mood is on. Funny memes, a thread gilded full of reddit gold and then stories like this:

“Finally I have enough money to start my own photography studio.. Well almost enough…. Sort of getting emotional here…. If I sell all of my ether and realize my gains, I get the studio that I wanted for ages…. But I lose my ether. I start from zero. Decisions decisions…. Why is the life so difficult?” Another etherian says:

“Um, I’m now a millionaire. Knowing crypto, this may not last, but it’s still an amazing feeling because I was born in a poor country and I’m not even 30 yet.

It’s hard to believe this all started in January 2014 with a comment I saw about Dogecoin in some random reddit thread. Yeah, Dogecoin. That’s what snowballed a few thousand dollars into a million.

Still absorbing this…”

Eth’s price appreciation gained speed yesterday following an attack on Bitcoin Unlimited, increasing by more than $10 in just one day, but what many may find more surprising than any other indication is the number of active users on the sub.

It usually hangs around 100, perhaps 200, but since yesterday it has attracted some 700 users online. It may be a temporary effect due to the price rise, but the community clearly appears to be growing considerably.

The atmosphere there is different from any other digital currency. It is the biggest, after bitcoin, and they appear to be very welcoming while generally in a friendly, happy mood.

While dash’s subreddit censored a CCN.com story on the currency, there is no known indication of censorship in ethereum’s spaces. Bitcoin’s trading sub is usually very strict on what topics can be discussed, leading to, in many cases, moderated comments. Eth’s trading sub, on the other hand, appears willing to discuss all topics, including other digital currencies.

It has attracted attention from many bitcoiners, especially those on the bigger blocks side, because the currency has plans for as good as unlimited on-chain scalability, but the total market cap for all digital currencies has increased. The pie is getting bigger as currencies attract adoption from outside this space.

Image from Shutterstock.