NEW YORK (REUTERS) - Cryptocurrency ethereum climbed to a new peak for a third straight day on Monday (May 10) on continued optimism about further growth in decentralised finance or "DeFi", although some analysts said it was overvalued at current levels. Ethereum has soared this year, fuelled by the boom in DeFi, which are platforms that facilitate crypto-denominated lending outside traditional banking. Many DeFi applications are embedded in the ethereum blockchain. Ethereum, the second-largest coin by market capitalization, hit an all-time high of US$4,200 (S$5,570) and was last up around 5.2 per cent at US$4,133.40. "The myriad possibilities of decentralised ledger technologies should be likened to a technological force of nature that will continue to disrupt finance and other businesses," said Paolo Ardoino, chief technology officer of cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex. An upcoming technical change to its software seen as reducing its supply has also provided a boost, while new institutional investors in the crypto sector have warmed to it amid a tepid quarter so far for bitcoin. "(Crypto has) got a lot more institutional involvement than people who haven't followed the market be...