CHICAGO (NewsNation Now) — With all of the buzz surrounding Bitcoin and it’s peaks and valleys over the past several months, another cryptocurrency has quietly reached its all-time high.

Ethereum — also known as Ether — hit a record of nearly $3,200 on Monday, and prices of the currency have more than quadrupled since the start of the year. 

Roger Cheng, Executive Editor at CNET, explained the difference between Ethereum and some of the other cryptocurrencies.

“Ether is really the proper name of the currency — it was really developed as an alternative to the surging population of Bitcoin,” said Cheng. “And it has surged because Ethereum, unlike Bitcoin, isn’t just a cryptocurrency that you trade; Ethereum is really a platform that a lot of folks have built different apps on. Obviously, you’ve heard of the phenomenon of NFTs (Non-fungible tokens) — these random tweets and GIFs that have gone for millions of dollars — well, a lot of the NFTs are exchanged using Ether as their primary currency.”

However, Cheng cautioned people to do their research before diving into crypto.

“Before they get into this, I would say ‘Do your homework.’ It’s not quite just buying stock or buying commodities, there’s an extra hurdle. You have to set up a cryptocurrency wallet — you kind of have to understand the risk that comes with this,” said Cheng.