Eos, the cryptocurrency backing the eos.ios platform, vaulted into the fifth spot in terms of market capitalization among digital currencies. After surging more than 30% over the past 24 hours to race to a market value of $7.1 billion, EOS surpassed Litecoin as the fifth-largest digital currency.

At this writing, EOS had a market value of $6.91 billion, just ahead of Litecoin’s $6.84 billion. The four largest digital currencies are Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple and Bitcoin Cash.

Courtesy: Coinmarketcap.com

“Currently, there is no direct way to buy EOS with a credit card, debit card, or bank account on any US Exchange. The cheapest and most efficient way to obtain EOS is to first purchase Ethereum or Bitcoin through Coinbase (Currently Ethereum offers a much lower transfer and exchange fee than Bitcoin),” Cryptobase.io reported earlier this year.

What Sparked the EOS Surge

The rise in eos market value is undoubtedly impressive. In late January, it was merely the tenth-largest cryptocurrency before it ascended to the ninth spot in mid-February. Less than two months, later eos is in the fifth spot. As is the case with many crypto spikes, speculation about favorable news swirled, prompting the eos run-up.

“A group of developers who also claim involvement with the eos project are planning to distribute one eosDAC token to all accounts with at least 100 eos tokens at 1 a.m. UTC April 15, or 9 p.m. ET Saturday,” according to CNBC.

Some market observers believe EOS could be a credible rival to Ethereum and that the former could enhance adoption of cryptocurrencies.

Earlier this month, Block.one, the developer behind the pioneering blockchain software EOSIO, announced the formation of a $200 million venture fund known as EOS Global.

“EOS Global will make strategic investments in Asia-focused projects utilizing EOSIO, and is the fourth injection of capital through Block.one’s EOS VC initiative which now totals $600 million,” according to Block.one.

The circulating supply of eos is over 788.66 million.