The cryptocurrency exchange CEX.IO now allows trading Ethereum’s ‘crypto-fuel’ ether. Ether can be bought with Visa, MasterCard or through bank transfer and exchanged for bitcoins and US dollars.

According to the exchange’s blog, ether trading is subject to special conditions, since the cryptocurrency differs from other altcoins. For instance, the withdrawal fee equals 0.01 ETH and the minimum deposit amount is 0.001 ETH.

Indeed, unlike many other cryptocurrencies, ether is not designed to serve as a universal means of payment, but rather as the ‘fuel’ facilitating the work of the smart contract platform Ethereum.

There are two main groups of people that might be interested in ether, reads CEX.IO’s blog post, namely developers and professional traders. The former could use the currency to make an Ethereum-based blockchain apps. The latter will be interested in ether’s volatility and factor it in their trading strategies.

The current price of ether on CEX.IO is about US $9.148, being slightly higher than the average price of around US $8.5. The ETH/BTC exchange rate on CEX.IO fluctuates around 0.02 BTC and equals the average figures.

In its announcement CEX.IO emphasizes the growing importance of ether. The exchange notes that the market capitalization of the currency is near US $600 million and that its price is many times higher than that of most altcoins. It is worth noting, however, that the impressive figure of US $600 million is, in fact, a result of a recent downslide. A month ago ether’s market capitalization exceeded one billion dollars and equalled US $1,113 million at its peak.

On a broader scale, however, Ethereum is experiencing a dramatic growth. Since January the price of ether has grown tenfold. Thus, by adding ether to the range of its cryptocurrencies, CEX.IO has followed the trend exemplified by other exchanges which have recognized the growing popularity of Ethereum’s ‘crypto-fuel,’ such as Coincheck, Korbit, Bitfinex, Bitso, BitBay and CHBTC.

UK-based CEX.IO offers trading to more than 500,000 users around the world. Besides BTC, USD and EUR, the exchange also provides litecoin trading. Since August 2015, it also operates with ruble.

Andrew Levich