Just days after hitting a monthly high of $3,943, the price of Ethereum (ETH) has begun to correct.
The initial boost comes as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the listing application for an Ethereum exchange-traded fund on Nasdaq and NYSE.
Although final approval is still required before ETF issuers can launch their products, the SEC’s May 23 decision marks a significant and unexpected victory for the companies that applied and the broader cryptocurrency industry.
By Monday, many expected regulators to reject the filing. Nine issuers, including VanEck, ARK Investments/21Shares and BlackRock, are hoping to launch ETFs linked to Ethereum following the SEC’s approval of the Bitcoin ETF in January, which was another groundbreaking moment for the sector.
But after an initial surge following ETF approval, the price of the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization has since fallen more than 4% from that level and is currently trading at $3,760.
Nonetheless, the new price is up a very modest 0.9% over the past 24 hours, and a much more significant 20.7% over 7 days. Likewise, data from CoinGecko shows that the current price is a 28.5% improvement from where ETH was trading two weeks ago and is up 19% in 30 days.
Over the past 24 hours, the price of Ethereum has been consolidating, swinging between $3,776 and $3,710. These price movements typically indicate a build-up of momentum that could lead to a breakout above or below the current consolidation range.
At this point, ETH’s next direction remains uncertain.
However, analysts at trading firm QCP Capital suggest that the price of ETH could rise to $5,000 by the end of the year if the SEC approves a spot Ethereum ETF.