As the calendar inches toward the expected launch of the first ever Ethereum ETFs in the U.S., market insiders are forecasting a potential significant surge in the price of the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency.
A recent report by Reuters suggests that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) could give the green light for Ethereum ETFs as early as July 4 as discussions between regulators and asset managers draw to a close. Those involved in the negotiations, requesting anonymity due to the confidential nature of these discussions, mentioned that the process of amending necessary documents is nearly wrapped up, with only minor details left to iron out. The consensus is that approval is just a handful of weeks away.
Responding to this news, skeptics believe that unlike the Bitcoin ETF debut in January, the launch of Ethereum ETFs may not make the same impact. James Butterfill, head of research at Coinshares, points out the differences in market capitalization and trading volumes as potentially affecting the response.
One must remember that Bitcoin’s successful leap into the ETF space attracted roughly $8 billion in assets at launch, according to data from Morningstar Direct. By the end of June, the value of assets in nine new Bitcoin-based ETFs had swelled to almost $38 billion, although Grayscale Bitcoin Trust witnessed a decrease in its holdings from $27 billion to $17.8 billion.
Bryan Armour, an ETF analyst at Morningstar, echoes Butterfill’s sentiments, opining that Ethereum’s run in the ETF market may witness toned-down inflows compared to Bitcoin’s first ETF venture. Armour cites Bitcoin’s “pent-up demand for a decade” and explosive investor interest as contributing factors to this view.
Yet, Quinn Thompson, founder and CIO of Lekker Capital, holds a contrasting opinion. He asserts that the market is currently rife with one of the “most attractive crypto buying opportunities” in recent times. He is bullish about the future of Ethereum and forecasts that the cryptocurrency could reach $7,000, while predicting $100,000 for Bitcoin by the November elections.
Co-founders of Glassnode share Thompson’s optimism, pointing towards patterns reminiscent of the early stages of Ethereum’s 2021 bull run. They project a target price of around $7,500 for Ether, based on the current market structure. This would reflect the Fibonacci extension observed in the previous bull cycle, indicating a potential rally.
Even as rumors of price declines circulate, analysts maintain that such a drop would entail a new and unforeseen development. Nevertheless, the market mood appears to tilt in favor of Ethereum touching the $7,000 tag, along with Bitcoin’s debut attempt at breaching the $100,000 mark.
Data sourced from TradingView.com shows Ethereum’s recovery from last weekend’s corrections, with its price up more than 3% in the last 24 hours. The cryptocurrency was trading at $3,460 at the time of writing.
