Rumors of Ethereum ETF approval boost Bitcoin to break $70,000, leading to a rise in all digital currencies

Due to market speculation that the U.S. SEC's opposition to Ethereum ETF may be easing, overnight Ethereum saw its largest increase in 18 months, leading to a rise in all digital currencies such as Bitcoin.

As of the time of writing, Ethereum surged nearly 20%, while Bitcoin rose over 7% breaking the $70,000 mark.

Media reports citing sources revealed that on Monday this week, the U.S. SEC requested an Ethereum ETF issuer to update its 19b-4 filing. The 19b-4 form is typically used to inform the SEC about rule changes allowing funds to trade on exchanges. ETF issuers need approval for both the 19b-4 form and the S-1 registration statement to officially launch a product.

Eric Balchunas, an ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, stated that after they raised their probability of approval for a spot Ethereum ETF from 25% to 75%, the surge in Ethereum expanded.

Chris Newhouse, a decentralized finance analyst at Cumberland Labs, mentioned that traders and analysts on social media are "now speculating that the SEC is more likely to approve, so traders are rushing to build positions, whereas many had completely ruled out the possibility of an Ethereum ETF approval before."

Newhouse said:

There has been a significant increase in trading volume and demand for spot and leveraged positions in the market, and Ethereum has outperformed Bitcoin, indicating that an Ethereum ETF may be the main driving factor.

However, not all traders believe that the SEC is open to an Ethereum ETF, Ravi Doshi, head of derivatives at FalconX's digital asset brokerage division, said:

Most of our counterparties are taking a wait-and-see approach to this trend, believing that the SEC's actions will be slower than the market expects