ETH surges 21% amid rumors that spot ETFs could be approved

What’s new? The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has asked stock exchanges to expeditiously update Form 19b-4 filings aimed at launching Ethereum-based spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs). According to CoinDesk’s sources, this could indicate the regulator’s intention to approve the documents early, while the closest deadline for one such filing is May 23.

Material by CoinDesk

What else is known? The next key date is May 23, as the regulator has pushed back the deadline for a decision on the application of investment company VanEck. Overall, a number of firms are awaiting approval to launch spot ETH ETFs, including BlackRock, ARK Invest, Fidelity, Invesco, and Hashdex. All of them have previously received approval to launch spot bitcoin funds, which began trading in the United States on January 11.

VanEck and CoinShares question the possibility of approving ETH ETFs in May

In March, the SEC postponed the product’s decision date a second time; in total, the commission is entitled to three postponements

Read more

Meanwhile, approval of Form 19b-4 applications for exchange rule changes does not mean that new ETH products are allowed on the market. It also requires approval of Form S-1, which is designed for the initial registration of new securities of publicly traded US companies.

Unlike 19b-4s, where regulators are entitled to three delays before making a final decision, the review of Form S-1 filings is not governed by a clear timeline. Therefore, officials could take an indefinite amount of time to approve them, the source notes.

Amid the news of the SEC’s request, Bloomberg analysts Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart adjusted their predictions, raising the probability of approval of 19b-4 applications for spot ETH ETFs from 25% to 75%. Seyffart, meanwhile, emphasized that it could take weeks or even months before S-1s are approved, even if 19b-4s are approved this week.

Source: Twitter.com

Earlier, Nate Geraci, president of investment advisory firm ETF Store, also allowed the possibility that the commission would approve the 19b-4 forms but then delay the process to approve the S-1s. In favor of this theory is the fact that the SEC is not actively involved in discussions about future products, a point that has been mentioned repeatedly by those involved in the process.

Source: Twitter.com

The ETH exchange rate jumped 21% in the last 24 hours, hitting its highest since April 9 at $3710. Weekly growth exceeded 25%, and the asset has added 60% since the beginning of the year. Among the top 100 coins by market capitalization, Ethereum was outpaced by several assets related to the blockchain ecosystem in terms of daily returns growth.

These include the native token of the decentralized exchange (DEX) Uniswap (UNI), the decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) governance token of the Lido Liquid Stacking Protocol (LDO), and the Lido Staked Ether (STETH) token, which is issued to Lido users in exchange for staked ETH coins.

Santiment analysts noted the strongest daily growth in the crypto market since February this year. Along with ETH, UNI, and LDO, PEPE, the largest meme token based on the Ethereum blockchain, is also showing growth of more than 20%. One of the largest meme coins on Solana, BONK, is also seeing a sharp jump in yield.

Source: Twitter.com

The total capitalization of the crypto market jumped by 7,9% to reach the $2,74 trillion mark.

According to Coinglass, short ETH positions worth $85,43 million were liquidated overnight. The total daily volume of liquidations of short positions amounted to $263,76 million.