The global digital assets industry printed red indexes as traders eagerly awaited a critical regulatory decision from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding spot-based Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The biggest of the cryptos saw some dramatic price movements over the last 24 hours.
Ether price plunges
Ethereum price initially plummeted to $3,500 levels around the US market closing time. As unconfirmed reports of ETH ETF approval surfaced, its price surged to nearly $3,900 and eventually stabilized above $3,800 after getting a confirmation.
Meanwhile, Ethereum price dropped to hit the $3,600 level again after the jump. The biggest altcoin price is down by 5% in the last 24 hours. It is trading at an average price of $3,657, at the press time. Its 24 hour trading volume is up by 94% to stand at $47.6 billion.
Bitcoin (BTC) also faced a volatile session as it dropped to the low $66,000 before rebounding to $68,300, and later it settled below $68,000. BTC price is down by around 4% over the last 24 hours. It is trading at an average price of $67,143, at the press time. Its 24 hour trading volume is up by 40% to stand at $44.2 billion.
The increase in volatility led to high liquidations across leveraged crypto derivative positions. The amount turns out to be over $350 million. This has been the highest recorded since May 1, according to CoinGlass data. Liquidations occur when an exchange closes a leveraged position due to a partial or total loss of the trader’s margin.
Is it about ETFs?
The SEC’s approval on Thursday marked a significant regulatory shift, paving the way for the potential launch of eight ETFs tied to ether, the native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum blockchain. This follows the earlier approval of the first Bitcoin ETFs this year. The approved rule changes support ETFs from several major financial groups, including BlackRock, Fidelity, Invesco, and Ark Invest. However, these products require a second round of approvals before launching.
The anticipation of these approvals has significantly boosted ether’s price, which has risen more than 20% since Monday and over 60% year-to-date. The SEC’s recent feedback to issuers and exchanges regarding pending applications, given earlier this week, catalyzed this development. Facing deadlines on Thursday and Friday, the SEC needed to respond to ether ETF applications from VanEck and Ark, respectively, according to Bloomberg Intelligence data.
