The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs). This was a highly anticipated move that came nearly four months after Bitcoin ETFs were approved. But the reception is very disorganized.

While expectations rose with the movement for Bitcoin, the excitement faded with Ethereum ETFs. This is not surprising because investors have already seen that the results with Bitcoin are not as good as they expected.

Ethereum is approaching $4,000. Although it remains a long way off its all-time high of $4,867 by mid-2022, the price of the world’s second most popular cryptocurrency is having a great moment. It has grown 89% in the last six months and is currently around $3,900.

This growth is mainly explained by the approval of ETFs that allow traditional and established investors to invest in Ethereum without having to delve into the world of blockchain wallets. DeFiance Capital CEO Arthur Cheong also believes this. What is a generalized idea?

ETFs are synonymous with crypto market maturity. The arrival of ETFs is seen as good news for cryptocurrencies. This is a recognition of its validity and allows the entry of new institutional investors with enormous investment capacity. What is not clear is that these ETFs will have an immediate impact on the value of Ethereum.

Fresh air for Ethereum. The second cryptocurrency was not having the best of times. It remains at a value below $2,000 throughout 2023, far from the averages of 2021 and 2022. This year 2024 has once again approached its prime and is once again in an upward trend.

It is not clear whether it will continue to increase further. This is where the views of different analysts differ greatly. Andrey Stoychev, chief analyst at investment firm Nexo, is one of the most enthusiastic and predicts that Ethereum will reach $10,000 by the end of 2024.

Michaël van de Poppe, chief analyst at MN Capital, concludes that “there is a significant possibility that the 2.5-year bear market for Ethereum will finally end.”

Ethereum ETFs are not yet live. “This could take weeks or even months to complete,” warns financial analytics company Growth Arcane. Unlike Bitcoin ETFs, which are already available the day after approval, Ethereum ETFs are not that much of a consolidated financial product and are still in the process of implementing and finalizing all the necessary documentation.

Each cryptocurrency is a world. Each has its own history, and as AMBCrypto points out, approvals for Ethereum and Bitcoin ETFs differ. While Bitcoin’s approval was personally approved by SEC Chairman Gary Gensler and the committee, Ethereum ETFs were approved by the Markets Division. That doesn’t mean it has less validity, but it does mean the attention the SEC gives it and the value it places on it.

Bitcoin remained the same. With Bitcoin, the value was expected to increase rapidly. When gold ETFs were approved, their value quadrupled. Something similar was expected in the eternal comparison of Bitcoin as digital gold. Financial institutions such as Standard Chartered aim to push Bitcoin to $150,000 by the end of the year and $250,000 by 2025.

But the truth is that Bitcoin has remained fairly stable around $62,000 over the past four months. There are no signs that the approval of ETFs is changing the landscape.

Image | Jievani Weerasinghe

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