Ethereum price yet to react to ETF approval, ETH could rally soon


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  • Ethereum ETFs were approved partly because of Bitwise’s correlation analysis.
  • Analysts expect spot ETH ETF to disappoint due to key metrics.
  • Ethereum faces temporary sell-off after its first double-digit gain in months.

Ethereum declined briefly on Friday as experts weighed in on why the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) approved spot ETH ETF applications and when to expect S-1 comments from the agency.

Read more: SEC approves spot Ethereum ETFs after shocking U-turn

Daily digest market movers: Why SEC approved ETH ETFs

Several experts have pointed out that the SEC approved 19b-4 spot ETH ETF filings on Thursday due to spot ETH price’s high correlation with CME Ethereum futures prices, similar to that of Bitcoin. As a result, it concludes that spot ETH is tightly linked to the regulated CME futures market. The SEC used Bitwise’s correlation analysis filed with its spot ETH ETF to arrive at this conclusion.

Immediately after the ETFs were approved, Van Eck submitted an amendment to its S-1 application. This follows amended S-1 submissions from Fidelity and Grayscale.

BlackRock also unveiled ETHA as the ticker for its spot ETH ETF, according to a listing on DTCC.

Scott Johnsson, a general partner at Van Buren Capital, mentioned that the SEC’s pace and breadth of first comments on S-1 filings are key to watch as they are the next key steps before a spot ETH ETF launch.

Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas speculated that the SEC’s comments may come in four to six weeks. He also noted that one of the challenges ETH ETFs will face in attracting boomers is “distilling its purpose/value into an easy-to-understand sound bite a la “Bitcoin is digital gold.”

Also read: Ethereum on the brink of 75% rally as SEC approves ETH ETFs

According to crypto researcher Noelle Acheson, spot ETH ETFs will meet a disappointing reception when they launch. He highlighted the CME’s low interest in ETH derivatives — ranking fifth — as a signal suggesting spot ETH ETFs may not be attractive.

“The relatively low participation from the same institutions that will probably be expected to pour into the ETH spot ETF upon launch, suggests that the initial inflows could be disappointing,” Acheson said. 

He also pointed to ETH accounting for only 15% of the total assets under management (AUM) of Hong Kong’s spot crypto ETFs. Additionally, he shared how some investors may not be willing to part ways with their staking yields to subscribe to these ETFs, as many experts suggest the SEC may not allow issuers to stake their assets.

ETH technical analysis: Ethereum sell-off may be temporary

Ethereum is trading around $3,730 on Thursday after moving below the $3,730 price level. In the case of a further decline, the next level to watch out for is the $3,605 support. While prices have yet to react to the 19b-4 spot ETH ETF filings approval, the market may be awaiting the final approval of S-1 applications and the official launch before taking action.

ETH/USDT 4-hour chart

ETH/USDT 4-hour chart

That said, investors may temporarily take profits at this level, considering the recent rise is ETH’s first double-digit gain in nearly two months. With over 91% of holders in profit, ETH may have faced huge sell-offs ordinarily if there had been no expectation for a spot ETH ETFs.

Read more: Ethereum bulls await ETF approval as BlackRock, Bitwise, Grayscale submit amended ETH ETF filings

However, ETH is expected to rally in the coming weeks and set a new all-time high above $4,878 when spot ETH ETFs eventually launch. Coupled with this, as many didn’t price in the approval of an ETF, ETH may likely trade higher in the coming weeks. This bullish thesis will be invalidated if ETH declines 10% to  below the $3,301 support.

Ethereum development FAQs

After the Merge, the Ethereum community is looking at the Sharding upgrade next, which has been slated for sometime later in the year. The development can be summarized in four words, “scalability through more efficient data storage.” The software update will increase the capacity of the blockchain, widening the amount of data that can be stored or accessed. At the same time, all services running atop the Ethereum blockchain will enjoy significantly reduced transaction fees.

A fork is the splitting of a blockchain after developers agree and proceed to implement upgrades. The decision comes after these developers reach a consensus for a software upgrade. The ensuing part will see one part continue with the status as is, while the other one will proceed with new features combined with the former ones. A hard fork basically entails permanent divergence of a new side chain from the original one, while a soft fork is doing the same, only difference being that it is temporary.

EIP-4844 is an improvement proposal for the Ethereum network. The upgrade promises reduced gas fees, which is a valuable offering considering the high transaction cost that continues to daunt crypto players. It has been a long-standing concern for the Ethereum network. The proposal is also referred to as “proto-Danksharding,” with an unmatched ability to increase the speed of transactions on the Ethereum blockchain. At the same time, it helps to reduce the transaction cost as everything becomes decentralized.

Gas token is a new, innovative Ethereum contract where users can tokenize gas on the Ethereum network. This means they can store gas when it is cheap and start to deploy the gas once the market has shifted to the north. The use of Gas token helps to subsidize high gas prices on transactions, meaning investors can do everything from arbitraging decentralized exchanges to buying into initial coin offerings (ICOs) early.