The cryptocurrency space has lost over $100 billion in market capitalization ahead of an expected decision from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on the spot Ether exchange-traded fund (ETF) application from VanEck.
Much like the spotlight that shone on Bitcoin earlier this year, the pre-decision volatility has already set in, causing the significant price fluctuations across the market, with BTC itself dropping from over $71,000 to little over $68,000 at the time of writing.
The price of Ethereum’s Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization that earlier this week saw a 20% surge in a single day after the SEC abruptly asked he exchanges that want to list and trade these funds update key filings related to these products, fueling speculation that the regulator is considering approving these products.
VanEck’s Ethereum ETF has faced its fair share of delays and amendments. Today, its 19b-4 form, a crucial document for regulatory approval, reaches its deadline for the SEC’s verdict, with the securities regulator having to decide whether to greenlight the investment vehicle or reject it.
Bloomberg’s Senior ETF analyst Eric Banchunas has predicted that the SEC’s decision is set to come a few hours from now at around the same time of day it approved spot Bitcoin ETFs back in January.
My best guess is we hear from the SEC around 4pm tomorrow. For spot btc they dropped it at 3:45pm, some others in past were slightly after 4pm. Anything poss tho https://t.co/MzTOcsmTnJ
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) May 22, 2024
The market’s volatility has exacted a toll as over $220 million in liquidations occurred today alone, affecting traders who had taken on excessive leverage ahead of the decision, with the market seemingly confident as ETH is up 1.8% over the last 24 hours, outperforming BTC’s 3% drop.
Other major cryptocurrency also dropped, as BNB is down 4% to less than $600 a coin, and SOL dropped 4.5% to $172. DOGE, ADA, AVAX, and SHIB are among other tokens that saw dropped between 2.5% and 5.7%.
Featured image via Unsplash.