Ether (ETH) rose Wednesday to a record high price above $2,700 after a powerful three-day rally.

The price of ether, the native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum blockchain and the second-biggest overall, climbed to as high as $2,718 around 1:00 coordinated universal time (9 p.m. ET), based on CoinDesk data. As of press time, ether was changing hands around $2,640, up 5.6% in the past 24 hours.

The new high came after three straight daily gains totaling 19%. The move extended the cryptocurrency's stunning rally this year: It has tripled already in 2021, amid trader enthusiasm over growth in blockchain applications like decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible tokens. Bitcoin (BTC), by comparison, is up 89% this year.

“Ether has picked up its head, and looks poised for a few more days of outperformance,” said Katie Stockton, a technical analyst for the consulting firm Fairlead Strategies.

UPDATE (April 28, 2021, 3:13 UTC): Updated story with new high above $2,700