Ethereum Ecosystem Tokens Surge on Spot ETF Approval Hopes

Ethereum ecosystem tokens climbed Tuesday driven by growing optimism about the potential approval of Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Ether (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency jumped as much as 21% to $3,796, , the highest since March and just 23% away from its all-time high of $4,878, according to CoinGecko.

Meanwhile, tokens of Ethereum-based protocols or Layer 2s, including Uniswap’s UNI, Lido’s LDO, Arbitrum’s ARB and Ethena’s ENA were in the top 15 biggest gainers among coins of at least $1 billion in market capitalization, according to CoinGecko data. They all rose by at least 9%.

The market’s upbeat mood follows statements from two ETF analysts who have raised the likelihood of a spot Ethereum ETF approval to 75% from 25%, as the SEC nears its May 23 deadline to respond to initial applications’ 19b-4 form.

Analysts from Bloomberg, Eric Balchunas and Jeff Seyffart attributed this increase to recent chatter suggesting the SEC might change its stance. Balchunas mentioned, “hearing chatter this afternoon that the SEC could do a 180.”

In another positive indicator, open interest for ETH futures on Monday reached a new high. Data from Coinalyze shows that the open interest for ETH futures reached $12 billion on Tuesday, up 34% in the last 24 hours.

Meanwhile, the Grayscale Ethereum Trust fund (ETHE) dropped sharply to 11% from 22% the previous day.