Ether experienced a significant surge of 18% within a 24-hour period, fueled by speculation that spot Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) might receive approval by May 23, despite previous pessimism. Renowned ETF analysts Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart from Bloomberg have noted a growing “chatter” suggesting that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is urging applicants to expedite their 19b-4 filings. In light of this development, Balchunas and Seyffart have raised their estimation of the approval odds from 25% to 75%. Similarly, on the decentralized betting platform Polymarket, the odds of an approved spot Ether ETF have risen from 11% to 54%.
As a direct result of this news, the price of Ether (ETH) has surged to $3,625, marking a 16.1% increase since the announcement was made a little over three hours ago. CoinGecko reports an overall rise of 18% over the past 24 hours. The timing of this information is crucial as the SEC is set to make a decision on VanEck’s spot Ether ETF application on May 23.
It is worth noting that Seyffart clarified that approved 19b-4 filings must be accompanied by signed-off S-1 registration statements for the spot Ether ETFs to be launched. Even if 19b-4 filings are approved this week, it could take weeks or even months for the S-1s to be authorized. The possibility of the SEC approving the 19b-4 and S-1 filings in a two-part process was initially mentioned by Nate Geraci, the president of The ETF Store, on May 19.
In the wake of this news, other cryptocurrencies have also experienced price surges. Bitcoin (BTC), Solana’s (SOL), and Dogecoin (DOGE) have seen increases of 5.1%, 8.9%, and 9.2% respectively over the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko. However, when compared to Ether, Ethereum-linked Uniswap (UNI), Lido DAO (LDO), and Lido Staked Ether (stETH) have been the only top 100 coins by market capitalization that have outperformed it over the same period.
The overall cryptocurrency market has witnessed a 7.8% increase in the past 24 hours, surpassing a market cap of $2.7 trillion for the first time since April 11. This positive market sentiment raises questions about the authority and decision-making power of SEC Chair Gary Gensler regarding crypto regulation.