Spot Bitcoin ETFs Approved But Ether Rallies Above $2,600

TL;DR

• The US SEC has finally approved spot Bitcoin ETFs, with the announcement coming a few hours ago.

• However, Ether takes center stage, rallying by 9% in the last 24 hours while Bitcoin momentarily surged above $47,500.

Ether Rallies on Bitcoin ETF Approval

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) finally approved the eleven spot Bitcoin ETF applications. This landmark event came after years of the SEC rejecting multiple ETF applications.

According to the SEC, the ETF applications filed by BlackRock, VanEck, Bitwise, Fidelity, Franklin, Valkyrie, HashDex, Ark Invest, Grayscale, WisdomTree and Invesco Galaxy, have all been approved.

Despite the approval, the SEC chair, Gary Gensler, pointed out that the SEC is still not backing Bitcoin. He commented that,

“Importantly, today’s Commission action is cabined to ETPs holding one non-security commodity, bitcoin. It should in no way signal the Commission’s willingness to approve listing standards for crypto asset securities. Nor does the approval signal anything about the Commission’s views as to the status of other crypto assets under the federal securities laws or about the current state of non-compliance of certain crypto asset market participants with the federal securities laws.

Though we’re merit neutral, I’d note that the underlying assets in the metals ETPs have consumer and industrial uses, while in contrast bitcoin is primarily a speculative, volatile asset that’s also used for illicit activity including ransomware, money laundering, sanction evasion, and terrorist financing.”

Although Bitcoin ETF applications were approved, Ether, the native coin of the Ethereum ecosystem, took center stage over the last few hours. ETH is up by more than 9% over the last 24 hours, breaking past the $2.600 level for the first time in roughly two years.

Meanwhile, BTC momentarily broke above the $47,500 region following the ETF approval announcement but is now trading just above $46k once again.

Ethereum Classic (ETC) is the best performer amongst the top 50 cryptocurrencies by market cap, up by more than 33% in the last 24 hours. At press time, ETC is currently trading at $28.21 per coin.

The total cryptocurrency market cap has also increased to $1.77 trillion, up by 3% so far today.