Bitcoin rose significantly during the past few hours of trading, today, Tuesday, as it approached the $72,000 level before retreating slightly to currently hover around the $71,000 level, its highest level since early April.
This comes as Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market value, has risen by more than 19% in the past 24 hours, now hovering around $3,700.
Meanwhile, other major coins also made strong gains, with Ripple XRP, Cardano, Solana, and Dogecoin up between 3-6%.
The strong rally in the cryptocurrency market came after Bloomberg analysts raised the probability of an Ethereum spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) being approved in the United States to 75%, a shift from the more pessimistic forecasts that emerged as recently as last week.
The market-moving ETF speculation is a revival of the investor enthusiasm that greeted similar U.S. bitcoin funds, whose January listing sent the largest digital asset soaring to a record high.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has asked a potential issuer of an Ethereum fund to update its 19b-4 filing, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke to Bloomberg. The form is used to notify the SEC of a rule change that would allow the fund to trade on exchanges.
ETF issuers need to have this filing, and an S-1 registration statement approved by the SEC, before the products can be officially launched.
Markets began to rally late Monday, with Bloomberg analysts Eric Balchunas and James Seyfart raising the odds of an Ethereum ETF being approved to 75% from 20%.
Market participants see the approval of an ETF in the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization as a bullish event, opening the door to institutional capital. The Bitcoin ETF, which began trading in January, has already generated as much as $12 billion in total inflows into Bitcoin, with major trading firms and state funds among its holders.
Meanwhile, some traders expect Ethereum prices to rise further in the coming days.
“Approval of Ethereum funds will push the price of the coin to nearly $4,000, but rejection could unfortunately push it towards $3,000,” Singapore-based QCP Capital said in a broadcast on Tuesday.
