Why is Ethereum (ETH) price rising today?
Ethereum (ETH), Ethereum’s native token, has surged about 4.5% in the past 24 hours, hitting $3,550 on June 19. Surprisingly, the driving force behind this strength is the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). We have decided to end our investigation into Ethereum.
SEC closes Ethereum investigation ahead of ETF approval
Today’s rise in ETH price comes in response to the SEC’s decision to close its investigation into whether ETH is classified as a security.
“The SEC Enforcement Directorate has notified us that it is ending its investigation into Ethereum 2.0,” Ethereum developer ConsenSys wrote in a June 19 post on “he added. .”
Interestingly, the SEC’s decision follows the approval of 19b-4 filings by VanEck, BlackRock, Fidelity and other Wall Street firms, allowing spot Ether ETFs to be listed and traded on those exchanges.
Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas expects the Ether ETF to begin trading on July 2. K33 Research also predicts that these investment products will attract $4 billion worth of inflows in the first five months after launch, indicating strong underlying demand for ETH tokens on the horizon.
Ethereum balance on exchanges plummets to lowest level in 8 years
The total amount of Ether held by all cryptocurrency exchanges fell to more than 12.2 million ETH on June 18, the lowest since July 2016, according to data resource Glassnode.
The surge in Ether outflows from cryptocurrency exchanges coincides with rising prices for cryptocurrencies, indicating reduced selling pressure and a growing preference for holding ETH in private wallets or decentralized protocols.
For example, the official Ethereum staking address has steadily increased its holdings since its launch in December 2020 and currently holds over 46.418 million ETH as of June 19. This is almost four times the amount held by the exchange.
This growth continued despite Ethereum’s Shanghai Upgrade in March 2023, which removed the requirement for ETH stakers to lock up their tokens indefinitely.
Related: MetaMask Enables Pooled Staking for Ethereum Holders
The fact that most users have not withdrawn their staked ETH despite having the option now shows that they prefer the benefits of staking, such as stability and rewards, over selling. This indicates optimistic sentiments for the Ethereum price in the coming weeks.
ETH price rebounds from support confluence
ETH price gains today come after testing the confluence of technical support around $3,500. This confluence consists of the lower trend line of the 50-day exponential moving average (50-day EMA, red wave), the 0.5 Fibonacci retracement level and the general upward channel trend.
The upside target for Ethereum in July appears to be the upper trendline of the rising channel, which coincides with the 1.618 Fib line at around $4,853. This forecast is based on previous bounces from the lower trend line that resulted in similar price movements.
Conversely, a clear break below the lower trendline of the rising channel could increase the chances of ETH falling to the 200-day EMA (blue wave) of around $3,040 in July.
This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. All investment and trading activities involve risk and readers should conduct their own research when making any decisions.
