Ethereum ETFs Surge 4.8% as SEC Signals Support

Spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) experienced a significant surge on Tuesday, attracting $125 million in inflows. This marked the best daily performance for these ETFs since early February, according to data from CoinGlass. The inflows were led by BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA), which saw $80 million in net inflows.

This surge in investment coincided with Ethereum’s price rising above $2,800 for the first time in nearly four months. The last time overall inflows for Ethereum ETFs exceeded this mark was on February 2, when investors poured $276 million into BlackRock’s ETHA, and Ethereum’s price was around $2,900.

As of the latest data, Ethereum was trading around $2,853, reflecting a 4.8% increase over the past day. This price point represents the asset’s highest level since the global market disruptions caused by the trade war initiated by former U.S. President Donald Trump. While Bitcoin has achieved new all-time highs since then, Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, has yet to surpass its 2021 peak of nearly $4,900.

Analysts attribute Ethereum’s recent strength to comments made by SEC Chair Paul Atkins on Monday. During a roundtable discussion on decentralized finance (DeFi), Atkins mentioned that the agency is exploring “innovation relief” for entities involved in the emerging DeFi subsector. He also outlined other steps the agency is taking to be more accommodating of the crypto subsector, which features autonomous protocols built around smart contracts.

Over the course of an 11-day hot streak, spot Ethereum ETFs have generated $745 million in inflows. Since their debut last July, these ETFs have accumulated around $3.5 billion in net inflows. The recent uptick in inflows is notable given Ethereum’s smaller institutional base, signaling renewed confidence in the crypto rally, particularly among large investors, according to Valentin Fournier, lead research analyst at BRN.

Last week, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin predicted that Ethereum’s transaction processing capability will improve tenfold over the next year. Buterin advocated for solutions that would enhance the scalability of Ethereum’s main network, rather than relying solely on layer-2 networks. This approach aims to address congestion issues that were particularly pronounced during the pandemic-era crypto boom.