Ethereum Outperforms Markets, Surging to $3900 After ETF Approval, Pectra Upgrade Stands Out.
Ethereum prices hit a two-month high above $3,900, less than a week after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved 19b-4 filings for eight cash exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tied to the digital asset. It went up.
This marks a positive performance for Ethereum for the week, significantly outpacing the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. During the reporting period, the value of ETH increased by approximately 27%, while Bitcoin showed a slight increase of 2%.
New ATH?
Highlighting how the spot Bitcoin ETF fueled the 70% surge in the price of BTC, several stakeholders believe that the price of ETH could follow a similar trajectory towards new all-time highs.
Experts have pointed out that with the ETF approval, cryptocurrencies have gained greater recognition as a viable financial asset class and are likely to witness greater institutional adoption.
Michael Saylor, Chairman of MicroStrategy, confirmed this view during a recent podcast appearance. According to him, the approval of the ETH ETF has further legitimized the emerging industry, encouraging institutions to allocate more capital to various digital assets. This comes after Saylor recently said that an Ethereum ETF would never be approved and that Ethereum would be classified as a security.
Meanwhile, Arthur Cheong, founder of DeFiance Capital, said the price of ETH could reach $4,500 before ETF trading begins as ETH is currently underrepresented within cryptocurrency portfolios.
Banking giant JPMorgan predicted the ETF would launch before the US presidential election.
Spectra Upgrade
Another major catalyst that will fuel ETH’s upward momentum is the Pectra upgrade, which its core developers plan to release in the first quarter of next year.
Pectra is Ethereum’s next major upgrade following the successful implementation of Dencun in March. This update aims to improve the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) through the Ethereum Virtual Machine Object Format (EOF) and includes 11 proposed improvements.
Specifically, the developers stated that they will replace the account abstraction EIP-3074 with the more advanced EIP-7702, introduced by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. EIP-7702 allows Externally Owned Accounts (EOAs) to act as smart contract wallets during transactions, streamlining user experience and increasing security.
