Ethereum prices reached $3,000 early Tuesday for the first time in nearly two years amid speculation that a spot ether exchange-traded fund (ETF) could be approved in the U.S. as early as May.
The second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization peaked at $3,003.40 shortly after 9 a.m. ET before falling. According to The Block’s pricing page, Ether is currently trading at $2,931. This represents an increase of 1% in the last 24 hours, 14% over the past week, and 30% since the beginning of the year.
Bitcoin also hit a new yearly high of $52,908 today, up 8% over the past week amid a broader cryptocurrency market rally as the GMCI 30 index rose from 107.7 to 116.
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Is the Spot Ether ETF Next?
With the successful launch of the spot Bitcoin ETF in January, attention turned to another story about the cryptocurrency market. Prospects for a Spot Ether ETF from well-known US companies including Fidelity, BlackRock and Franklin Templeton have applied for a Spot Ether ETF. last few months.
As speculation grows about the possible approval of such a product this year, the price of Ethereum could surpass the price of Bitcoin by 2024. Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas recently said: suggested There is a 70% chance of approval by May 23rd. This is the final deadline for applications for Ark and 21Shares’ first-ever spot Ether ETFs filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Balchunas’ view is shared by Standard Chartered, with the bank predicting a potential price target of $4,000 for Ethereum if it mimics Bitcoin’s performance of spot ETF approvals. But investment bank TD Cowen said it was unlikely the SEC would approve a spot ether ETF “any time soon,” and JPMorgan said there was a less than 50% chance a spot ether ETF would be approved by May.
In January, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler said the agency’s approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF was limited to a single cryptocurrency and “should not be construed beyond that.”
Given Gensler’s position that cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin are securities, additional uncertainty surrounding the approval of a spot Ethereum ETF remains. However, Gensler’s predecessor, Jay Clayton, once noted that if a small number of tokens are widely distributed, they may no longer be considered securities, and former SEC corporate finance director William Hinman also commented in 2018 on ether’s decentralized nature. Under consideration, he said, Ether would not be considered a security. It is not a security.
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