This race for domains takes place against the background of a huge rise in the value of Ether, which has increased more than tenfold from $8 for one unit on January 1 to a current price hovering around $90. This influx of money into the ecosystem has also stimulated a burst of interest in Ethereum-based projects, as companies or individuals holding Ethereum find themselves with significantly more resources to apply to development. (Crowdfund campaigns backed by Ethereum tokens now regularly raise millions of dollars in a short space of time, and besides established players in the cryptocurrency space, even the UN has started to experiment with the platform.)