Ethereum
Can Ethereum (ETH) Surpass $4,000 This Week If ETFs Are Approved?
ETH prices surpassed $3,700 during an intraday high in early Asian trading on Tuesday, May 21. This is the highest level the asset has reached since early April, when it reached similar levels before falling below $3,000 a week later.
The massive 20% move was sparked by renewed hopes that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will approve VanEck’s first spot ETH ETF on May 23.
This is the biggest 24-hour move for ETH in over a year and has dragged the rest of the crypto market with it.
Total market capitalization rose 8.6% on the day to $2.74 trillion, with bitcoin closing in on its all-time high, reaching $71,600 during Asian trading Tuesday morning.
ETH Spot ETF Hopium
In an article on X on May 21, Bitcoin pioneer Anthony Pompliano said:
“If they approve the Ethereum ETF, they approve the entire industry. This is the last dam to be broken.
The big move follow the comment » from Bloomberg ETF analysts James Seyffart and Eric Balchunas, who increased their chances of approval from 25% to 75% on May 20.
Balchunas said the SEC wants the revised Forms 19b-4 returned to it by 10 a.m. on May 21 “for approval likely as early as Wednesday.”
Ten issuers are vying for the first U.S. spot Ethereum ETF, including BlackRock, Fidelity and Shades of grey which aims to convert its ETHE fund.
VanEck is the first deadline, followed by Ark 21Shares on May 24. The revelation is a turnaround from earlier this week when industry experts predicted that the SEC would procrastinate on approving S-1 applications for listing new products on US exchanges.
ETF Store President Nate Geraci said the marriage between crypto and exchange-traded products “remains the most fascinating place in asset management right now.”
Prometheum launches ETH custody service
In a related development, crypto asset trading and custody firm Prometheum has launched a controversial Ethereum custody service, treating the asset as a security, according to reports.
Observers have suggested that this could be a preparation for an SEC rejection of ETH ETFs on the grounds that it also considers the asset to be a security.
However, the recent turnaround in sentiment could suggest the opposite could happen this week.