Ether surges 18% amid renewed hopes for approval of a spot Ether ETF

adminMay 20, 2024

Ether (ETH) surged 18% in 24 hours amid renewed speculation that a spot Ether exchange-traded fund could be approved this week, despite months of pessimism.

According to Bloomberg ETF analysts Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart, there has been “talk” that U.S. securities regulators are requiring applicants to expedite their 19b-4 filings.

This increased the pair’s odds of approval from 25% to 75%.

On decentralized betting platform Polymarket, the odds for an approved spot Ether ETF similarly increased from 11% to 54%.

According to CoinGecko, the price of Ethereum is currently at $3,625, up 16.1% since a little over three hours after the news broke and up 18% in 24 hours.

*Ether price change over the last 24 hours. Source: CoinGecko*

The news came on May 23, just days before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission made a final decision on VanEck’s application for a spot Ether ETF.

However, Seyffart clarified that the launch of a spot Ether ETF would require an approved 19b-4 to be accompanied by an approved S-1 registration statement.

He said even if the 19b-4 is approved this week, it could take weeks or months for the S-1 to be approved.

“If we are right, we will see this theoretical approval later this week. This *should* mean that S-1 approval is a matter of ‘when’ and not ‘if’…”

The idea that the SEC could approve 19b-4 and S-1 filings in two parts was first mentioned by Nate Geraci, president of The ETF Store, on May 19.

Related: The Spot Ether ETF is decided by a five-member vote. Is Gensler the decider?

According to CoinGecko, other cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin (BTC), Solana (SOL), and Dogecoin (DOGE) are up 5.1%, 8.9%, and 9.2%, respectively, over the past 24 hours.

Ethereum-linked Uniswap (UNI), Lido DAO (LDO), and Lido Staked Ether (STETH) are the top 100 coins by market capitalization that have surpassed Ether in the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko.