Spot ETF expectations, Ethereum price approaches $3,000 due to Dencun upgrade

Ethereum (ETH) price approached $3,000 on February 19 amid anticipation of developments expected to occur in the coming months.

As of 8:35 PM UTC, the ETH price is: $2,937, market capitalization of $352.96 billion. This change represents a growth of 4.12% over 24 hours. This is significantly larger than Bitcoin’s 0.4% gain over the same period and larger than the cryptocurrency market’s overall 1.2% rise.

Lido Staked Ether (STETH) saw a similar gain of 3.88% in 24 hours. The Ethereum 2.0 staking token category gained 5.4%, according to data from CoinGecko.

Ethereum accounted for a relatively small portion of 24-hour liquidations. The assets accounted for $35.48 million in liquidations, including $8.43 million in long liquidations and $27.05 million in short liquidations.

Growth may be due to ETF expectations, Dencun upgrade

Ethereum’s recent rise may be linked to the possibility that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may approve a spot Ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETF).

No significant regulatory developments regarding the spot Ethereum ETF occurred today, but a related report from brokerage firm Bernstein received widespread coverage. The company’s analysts predicted a 50% chance that a spot Ethereum ETF would be approved by May, with an almost certain chance that such a fund would be approved within a year. Combined with other similar forecasts over the past few months, this report may have had an impact on investor sentiment and market activity.

There has also been some backlash centered around Ethereum’s ETF prospects. Apollo co-founder Thomas Fahrer suggested Coinbase’s leading role as ETF custodian could undermine Ethereum’s proof-of-stake model by allowing the company to “control the entire network.”

According to data from Dune Analytics, Coinbase currently accounts for approximately 15% of all ETH staking, while Lido, another staking platform, accounts for over 31%. Since it is unknown how much cryptocurrency could be held in the spot ETH ETF, it is unclear whether Coinbase could gain control by holding funds on behalf of that ETF. It is also unclear whether the SEC will allow staking of ETH held in Ethereum spot ETFs, although some applicants are aiming to do so.

In addition to these ETF prospects, there are significant expectations for Ethereum’s Dencun upgrade scheduled for March 13th. The upgrade specifically includes proto-danksharding, a feature expected to improve ETH transaction costs and scalability.