Ethereum ETF Hopes Push ETH Up 8% to Over $2,600

Following Wednesday's landmark approval of multiple spot Bitcoin ETFs, hopes that a spot Ethereum ETF could be next to market have propelled ETH to levels not seen since May 2022.

Ethereum is currently up 8.7%, trading at just over $2,620, per data from CoinGecko.

Bitcoin itself is trading relatively flat, up 2% over the past day. The SEC's approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF Wednesday followed days of confusion, including a fake tweet posted by the "compromised" SEC Twitter account on Tuesday.

Several hopefuls have filed applications for a spot Ethereum ETF with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including Ark 21Shares, BlackRock, Fidelity and Grayscale.

The SEC's approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF was a long time coming, but traders are betting that an Ethereum ETF might be quicker to market.

Bloomberg Intelligence's ETF analyst Eric Balchunas reportedly pointed to a 70% chance of an Ethereum ETF being approved by May, the SEC's final deadline for a decision on multiple spot Ethereum ETF applications. Balchunas noted that he had heard “on the back channels” that spot Ethereum ETFs “will be fine.”

SEC chair Gary Gensler has repeatedly refused to confirm whether the regulator considers Ethereum a security or a commodity.

Prior to taking up his post at the SEC, Gensler himself stated that the regulator considered Ethereum "sufficiently decentralized" that it doesn't qualify as a security. At the time, Gensler appeared to be referencing the views of SEC's former Director of Corporate Finance William Hinman, expressed in a much-cited June 2018 speech.