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ETH Rises as Rest of Major Cryptocurrencies Slide Ahead of ETF Decision
Investors predict that the approval of Ethereum spot ETFs could attract institutional investment
Ethereum’s ETH token was the only major digital asset to rise on Thursday ahead of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) long-awaited Ethereum ETF decision.
Ether, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, rose 0.9% to $3,789 over the past 24 hours. According to data from CoinGecko, BTC fell 3.5% to $67,884, while Solana’s BNB and SOL fell more than 4%.
Today is an important date in the approval process of the spot Ethereum Exchange Traded Fund (ETF). The SEC will rule on VanEck’s Ethereum ETF spot filing, which is the first of several similar filings.
Investors believe that the approval of spot ETFs on Ethereum could lead to inflows from institutional investors.
Trading firm QCP Capital predicts that Ether could rise above 60% if ETH ETF approval passes. “We believe an approval is now very likely with trades expected as early as next week,” she said.
On the macroeconomic front, Federal Reserve minutes arrived from the April 30 to May 1 Federal Open Market Committee policy meeting. Released on Wednesday, the minutes indicated that policymakers were uncertain about when to ease monetary policy.
The Fed is targeting an inflation rate of 2%, but indicators have shown price increases well above that target. “Participants noted that while inflation had moderated over the past year, further progress towards the Committee’s 2% target had been lacking in recent months,” summary She said.
Meanwhile the latest unemployment data suggests that the labor market is showing signs of relief. The Labor Department reported Thursday that initial jobless claims totaled 215,000 for the week ending May 18, a decline of 8,000 from the previous week.
U.S. stocks rose on Thursday as Wall Street analyzed Nvidia’s latest quarterly results, which beat expectations. The S&P 500 rose 0.4%, the Nasdaq Composite rose 2% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2%.