Experts on: What the SEC Ethereum ETF approval will do for ETH, other cryptos and the BTC price

Yesterday, rumors abounded in the crypto sphere that United States regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has begun discussions to approve Ethereum spot ETFs in America, as it did for Bitcoin ETFs back in January.

Then, hours later, the SEC issued an official notice that it had approved for trading the Ethereum spot ETF filings from many of the major asset management players: BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale, VanEck, Franklin Templeton, ARK 21Shares, Invesco Galaxy, and Bitwise, respectively.

Ethereum has been tearing up the headlines ever since - but what does the news actually mean?

How the ETH spot ETF approval will affect the crypto space

According to Matteo Greco, research analyst at digital asset and fintech investment business Fineqia International, this marks a pivotal moment – and not just for Ethereum, either.

Indeed, Bitcoin has for years been considered slightly set apart from other cryptocurrencies. The ‘crypto version of gold’, as it’s often known, is in a class of its own and often considered closer to traditional finance than any other digital coin.

In this way, one could argue that the Ethereum approval is the first ‘real’ sign of cryptocurrency approval from the SEC. As Greco says:   

How the ETH spot ETF approval will affect the Ethereum price

The future also looks bright for Ethereum specifically, according to experts. For example, analyst Gautam Chhugani of asset management firm Bernstein recently predicted that Ethereum would soon reach a new all-time high of $6,600 after a spot ETF was approved by the SEC.

Meanwhile, founder of the Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals Ric Edelman, has said that:

Fineqia's Greco disagrees somewhat with Edelman, saying that it will take time and not be quite that simple.

As for specific figures, he demurs:

Others still are not so bullish. Some, like Jan3 CEO Samson Mow, reckon that those who expect Ethereum’s price to imitate Bitcoin’s after its SEC approval will be sorely disappointed. Mow posted on X this week that they would “massively underperform” and that “this is the last chance to sell ETH above 0.05 BTC.”

How the ETH spot ETF approval will affect the BTC price

For now, Ethereum’s SEC nod will likely do little to affect the mighty Bitcoin’s price. However, according to Greco, it could have quite a profound impact in the longer term:

The negative side of the SEC approval

But there is still work to be done, according to Coinsensys, which is famously in a legal process to sue the SEC currently.

The company said on X today that Consensys welcomed today’s decision "as a step in the right direction", but commented that "this seemingly last-minute approval is yet another example of the SEC’s troublesome ad hoc approach to digital assets”.

They also added: