The price of Ethereum (ETH) gained over 16% on Monday amid analysts’ speculation for spot Ethereum ETF approval.
On Monday, a Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas who is regarded as one of the most trusted sources in the crypto ETF space, on his X handle, raised his chances of spot ETF approval from 25% to 75%.
He wrote,
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“James Seyffart and I are increasing our odds of spot Ether ETF approval to 75% (up from 25%), hearing chatter this afternoon that SEC could be doing a 180 on this (an increasingly political issue), so now everyone scrambling (like we everyone else assumed they’d be denied). See Nate’s tweet below for probably the order of events (but again we capping at 75% until we see more, eg filing updates)”.
His statement posted on X is reported to have made waves in the crypto market, causing the price of ETH to skyrocket over 10% within minutes. The price of X has soared significantly, currently trading at $3,760 price, as at the time of writing this report.
The SEC has however remained silent on ETH spot ETF approval, with a final deadline for multiple ETFs on May 23rd and 24th, there is seemingly pressure on the SEC to make decisions before the deadline.
The path of the Ethereum spot ETFs does share some similarities with the approval of the spot Bitcoin ETFs, as the SEC was largely quiet in the weeks and days leading up to the approval. While the situations are largely different, it does show that it is entirely possible that the SEC could approve spot ETH ETFs later this week despite relative silence.
Analysts predict that the speculation around the SEC decision to approve Ethereum Spot ETFs is coming after US presidential candidate Donald Trump made several pro-
crypto statements in a campaign earlier in May. Many have speculated that President Joe Biden may be forced to make a pro-crypto move also to gain support from the crypto community.
A spot Ethereum ETF would be a huge milestone for crypto adoption, allowing a whole cast of new investors to access the token and could potentially send ETH to new ATHS above the $4,900 level. Ethereum is poised to experience increased volatility this week as crypto enthusiasts anticipate the SEC’s response to spot Ethereum ETF applications.
The impending decision on spot Ethereum ETFs has significantly heightened interest in the weekly and monthly ETH options expiries. At Deribit, the leading derivatives exchange, Ether options open interest for May 24 is recorded at $867 million, while for May 31, it reaches an impressive $3.22 billion. In comparison, CME’s monthly ETH options open interest stands at just $259 million, with OKX at $229 million.