By Scott Matherson 21 May 2024 | 10:00 pm

Why Is The Ethereum Price Up 20% Today?

The Ethereum price has risen almost 20% in the last 24 hours. This is a positive development for the second-largest crypto token, which has been lagging until now. Ethereum’s price surge is believed to be due to several factors, including the potential approval of the Spot Ethereum ETFs

SEC Could Soon Approve Spot Ethereum ETFs

Ethereum has risen on the news that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) could approve the Spot Ethereum ETF applications. Before now, it was almost certain that the Commission would deny these applications. However, the SEC is now open to approving these funds based on Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas’s revelation. 

Balchunas revealed in an X (formerly Twitter) post that he and fellow Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart were increasing their odds of Spot Ethereum ETF approval to 75% (from 25%), having heard that the SEC could likely approve these funds due to “increasingly political issue.” Seyffart also confirmed this development, stating that “things are taking a turn for the better on Spot #ethereum ETF approvals this week. Upping our odds to 75%.”

Seyffart further noted in a subsequent X post that the 75% approval odds relate to the 19b-4 filings, with VanEck’s final deadline coming up on May 23. The SEC will still need to approve the S-1 filings before these funds can launch. S-1 approvals could take up to months, meaning that it could take a while before these Spot Ethereum ETFs go live.  

However, that hasn’t stopped Ethereum whales from believing, and this group of investors is another reason why ETH’s price has shot up recently. Data from the market intelligence platform shows that these whales bought over 110,000 ETH ($341 million) between May 19 and 20. This has turned out to be profitable since Ethereum’s price had been priced in on the rumors of a rejection. 

Time For Ethereum Price And Altcoins To Make Their Move

With the recent development that the SEC will likely approve the Spot Ethereum ETFs, Ethereum and other altcoins look primed to make significant moves to the upside. Crypto analyst Michaël van de Poppe had predicted that the news around the Spot Ethereum ETFs would trigger a rally for Ethereum and altcoins. 

While explaining why he swapped his Bitcoin holdings for Altcoins, Van de Poppe suggested that Ethereum (and other altcoins) would likely see a bullish reversal once the news about a denial of the Spot Ethereum ETFs was out since the crypto token was already priced into this news. 

He added that things could even be better if the news turns out to be better than people expect, which is currently the case with the SEC looking increasingly likely to approve these funds. 

Meanwhile, crypto analyst Javon Marks predicted that an Ethereum breakout will kickstart the altcoin season. That already looks to be the case, seeing how other altcoins have enjoyed significant price gains in the last 24 hours thanks to the second largest crypto token by market cap.

Ethereum price chart from Tradingview.com