The approval of the spot Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States could drive Ether’s price to $10,000.
While the United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) ETF approval process may take months, the launch of the ETF could be a significant catalyst for the price of Ether (ETH), according to Andrey Stoychev, the head of prime brokerage at Nexo.
Stoychev told Cointelegraph:
“ETH ETFs in the USA and similar products in Asia could be the driver that helps the asset reach $10,000 by end-2024, catching up with Bitcoin’s performance post-ETF.”
The prediction comes after a significant price surge for Ether, which rose over 21% during the past 24 hours to trade at a two-month high of $3,771 as of 12:08 pm UTC, according to CoinMarketCap data.
The Ether rally follows reports that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has U-turned on spot Ether ETFs — possibly due to political pressure — with reports stating it has asked ETF exchanges to update their 19b-4 filings.
While the timeline for a potential spot Ether ETF is still difficult to predict, the SEC’s latest move is a positive sign, according to Nexo’s Stoychev:
“This seeming change in perception towards Ether ETFs may come to signal a switch in stance from the SEC. A speculative reason for that could be the upcoming US presidential election which has come to highlight that crypto users may play a defining role, especially in swing states.”
Related: Fidelity reportedly amends Ether ETF S-1 filing, removes ETH staking
Ether ETF approval may take until 2025
The next SEC deadline is May 23 for VanEck’s Ether ETF proposal. Senior Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas has raised the approval odds for this proposal to 75%, up from 25%. However, this increased likelihood only pertains to the 19b-4 form.
However, Ether ETF issuers will also need to get their S-1 filings approved, according to Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart, who wrote in a May 20 X post:
“We also need S-1 approvals. It could be weeks to months before we see S-1 approvals and thus a live EtH ETF… That said, if we’re correct and we see these theoretical approvals later this week. It *should* mean that S-1 approvals are a matter of ‘When’ not ‘If’...”
While the SEC will likely accept VanEck’s filing, the approval of the S-1 filings could be delayed until 2025, according to Yunus Ozkaya, the CEO and founder of the FreeBnk app, who told Cointelegraph:
“I am not expecting anything earlier than 2025 to be tradeable, including S-1 approval. However, when it does, it will have a really big positive effect on the market, even if S-1 approval takes more time. I am expecting they will approve it by May 23rd for Vaneck’s 19b-4 deadline.”