blockworks.co
An eleventh-hour about-face from two Bloomberg exchange-traded fund analysts about the likelihood of the Securities and Exchange Commission approving a spot ether ETF sent crypto prices soaring Tuesday.
Ether (ETH) is up more than 23% since Monday, according to data from Coinbase. The cryptocurrency is currently trading at just under $3,800, almost $1,000 higher than it was just seven days ago.
Read more: Spot ether ETF decision week just got a bit more interesting
Bitcoin (BTC) is also on the rise this week, up close to 16% in the past seven days. The largest cryptocurrency broke $70,000 Monday, per Coinbase, for the first time in about a month.
The rally comes as Bloomberg analysts Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart — who have elevated to somewhat of a celebrity status on so-called Crypto Twitter in recent months — announced on Tuesday afternoon that they were upping their projections of spot ether ETF approval from 25% to 75%.
A person familiar with the matter told Blockworks Tuesday that “conversations [with the SEC] are progressing.” The SEC has apparently instructed issuers to update their 19b-4 filings, a sign that approval may be granted after all. The person was granted anonymity given the sensitivity of the discussions.
“This does not mean approval is a given, but it would be really weird for the SEC to incur the extra time and admin cost if it is planning to reject,” Noelle Acheson, author of the Crypto is Macro Now newsletter, said.
The SEC faces deadlines to approve or deny spot ether ETF applications this week on Thursday and Friday. An SEC spokesperson declined to comment.
“Crypto markets soared Monday on signs that US regulators may approve spot ethereum ETFs,” Zach Pandl, managing director of research at Grayscale, which currently has an ETH ETH application in with the SEC, said. “The success of bitcoin ETFs has already demonstrated the popularity of these products with investors, but the impact of a potential approval extends beyond creating a new source of demand.”
Also this week, investors will be watching a slew of Federal Reserve speakers Tuesday and awaiting minutes from the central bank’s most recent Federal Open Market Committee meeting to drop on Wednesday.
Odds of central bankers holding interest rates steady in June remain at 96%, according to CME’s FedWatch Tool.
US equities were fairly flat early in Tuesday’s trading session with the S&P 500 gaining about 0.01% and the Nasdaq Composite dipping 0.2% an hour after the open.