TL;DR
- Ethereum Demand Increase: Long-term holders have accumulated $1.34 billion in ETH, with a single-day purchase of 298,000 Ether tokens on June 12, indicating strong confidence despite recent price drops.
- Ether Price Stability: Despite an 8.49% drop over the past week, Ether has maintained a level above $3,400, with current trading around $3,500, a historically significant resistance point.
- Regulatory Progress: The SEC’s potential approval of spot Ether ETFs by September’s end could affirm ETH’s non-security status, influencing the classification of other blockchain tokens and boosting investor sentiment.
Ether, the native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum network, has seen a significant uptick in demand, particularly from long-term holders. Despite a 2% price drop over 24 hours, these steadfast investors have shown their confidence in Ether’s long-term value.
Ethereum demand has spiked.
Buying by permanent holders was the second highest on record yesterday: 298K ETH.
The record daily buying was last September 11: 317K ETH. pic.twitter.com/0qMVpNU8ht
— Julio Moreno (@jjcmoreno) June 13, 2024
Julio Moreno, the head of research at CryptoQuant, recently pointed out this surge in Ethereum demand. According to Moreno, long-term holders have been buying Ether at the second-highest level ever recorded.
On June 12, within a single day, accumulation addresses snapped up approximately 298,000 Ether tokens, translating to an impressive $1.34 billion.
This remarkable volume of acquisition was a mere 6% shy of the all-time high set on September 11, 2023, when long-term holders purchased 317,000 Ether as its price momentarily dipped below $1,600.
Ethereum’s Price Dynamics
Over the past week, Ether’s price has experienced a significant drop of 8.49%. While it briefly fell below $3,800 on June 8, it has managed to maintain a steady position above $3,400, according to CoinMarketCap data. Currently, Ether is trading at around $3,500, a price level that has historically acted as a strong resistance point for Ether bulls.
Regulatory Developments Boost Investor Sentiment
During a recent Senate Banking Committee meeting, Gary Gensler, the chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), suggested that spot Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) could potentially be approved by the end of September.
This follows the SEC’s preliminary regulatory nod for spot Ether ETFs on May 23, which approved 19b-4 filings from eight applicants. However, the commencement of trading awaits the approval of the S-1 registration statements.
The anticipated approval of spot Ether ETFs is seen by many industry experts as a confirmation of Ether’s status as a non-security. Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart suggests that this approval could imply the SEC’s explicit recognition of Ether as not being a security, potentially paving the way for similar classifications for other tokens.
Digital asset lawyer Justin Browder and venture capital firm partner Adam Cochran share the sentiment that the approval of Ether ETFs would conclusively affirm ETH’s non-security status. This could have far-reaching implications for the classification of tokens from other blockchain projects.
On May 23, the SEC officially approved 19b-4 applications from several prominent firms for issuing spot Ether ETFs. In a notable move, several ETF issuers have opted to remove staking from their final amendments, possibly in response to regulatory considerations.
