ETH Price Surges Amid Excitement for Approved Spot Ether ETFS
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the sale of eight spot Ethereum ETFS on May 23, 2024. This decision has led to renewed optimism in the crypto market, causing Ethereum's price to jump by over 20% in a week.
The approval of these ETFS comes after the SEC approved Bitcoin ETFs earlier this year. The success of these Bitcoin ETFs paved the way for Ethereum ETFS, as many financial firms had already started the process of launching an Ethereum fund.
Grayscale Managing Director of Research Zach Pandl stated that spot Ethereum ETFS mania helped sustain ether past a dip. Brian Rudick, senior strategist at crypto market-maker GSR, suspects substantial performance if the spot ETH ETFS begin trading.
The daily premium of ETH compared to NAV discount reached -7.19% before the approval of these ETFS. This indicates significant demand for Ethereum in the market.
Ethereum is a decentralized platform that runs smart contracts: applications that run exactly as programmed without any possibility of downtime, censorship, fraud or third-party interference. It is the second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization and has become a blue chip coin along with Bitcoin. Ethereum's value proposition is distinctly different from Bitcoin's, as it fuels the Ethereum network that powers various applications such as decentralized finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and real world assets.
The SEC approval of these ETFS is a sign that the regulatory stance towards crypto may be softening. The agency lost a lawsuit against Grayscale in 2023, which spurred the approval for Bitcoin products. However, it's important to note that these ETFS do not apply to other crypto projects on the Ethereum network.
The lack of staking in these ETFs is another reason why they may see less demand than their Bitcoin counterparts. Staking is a way for investors to earn interest on their ether holdings by locking up tokens on the network for a period of time. However, Ark, Fidelity and Grayscale updated their filings this month to remove staking from their proposals.
The approval of these ETFS is expected to boost Ethereum's price further as more investors enter the market. The SEC's decision also indicates a positive trend for the crypto industry as a whole, potentially leading to more regulatory clarity and acceptance in traditional finance.