Ethereum Projects Soar in Market Cap as SEC Greenlights Spot Bitcoin ETF

Gary Gensler, the Chair of the US Securities and Exchange (SEC), issued cautionary statements to the crypto sector, raising uncertainty about the possibility of the Ether obtaining approval for an ETF similar to Bitcoin.

But this has not stopped Ether from surging, which has reached its highest point since May 2022. Perhaps unexpectedly, the approval of 11 Bitcoin ETF proposals was also followed by the growth of Ethereum-based projects.

Ethereum-Based Projects Shine

According to Santiment’s latest analysis, projects built on the Ethereum platform experienced significant growth in market capitalization as the SEC approved the trading in Bitcoin ETFs in the United States, ending over a decade of rejections.

“Ethereum-based projects were some of the bigger beneficiaries in market cap growth following the SEC’s 11 ETF approvals yesterday.”

Ether jumped by 5% as it climbed to $2,670, a level not seen since the last 20 months.

Besides Ether, ENS – the native token of Ethereum Name Service that functions as a decentralized naming system built on Ethereum – increased by nearly 25% following the SEC’s decision on January 10th. The latest price action pushed its weekly gains to over 86%. ENS was currently trading at $25.96.

The soaring Ethereum-based projects right after the fact indicated increased optimism in the ecosystem despite a lack of clarity in terms of a spot Ether exchange-traded fund (ETF).

Decisions on approval for spot Ether ETFs are expected from the agency starting in May. Heavyweights such as BlackRock, Invesco, Ark, VanEck, and Grayscale are among those awaiting approval.

Unlike Bitcoin, which has been distinctly categorized as a commodity, the classification for Ethereum is more complicated, and the approval for an Ether ETF is considered “not as straightforward” as it was for Bitcoin.

However, Steve McClurg, co-founder and chief investment officer of Valkyrie Funds, recently said that the current market conditions are favorable for such an offering.

Ethereum’s GitHub Momentum

Participants in the Ethereum ecosystem are showing signs of resilience. According to Santiment, Ethereum was one of the several ERC:20 crypto assets that have been witnessing notable GitHub activity over the past 30 days. It was ranked in the third spot in terms of development activity behind Status and Chainlink, which captured the first and the second positions, respectively.

Examining GitHub activity proves to be a compelling metric when assessing ICOs and crypto projects. Developers invest their valuable time, a resource with a significant cost, in a particular project.

This commitment from numerous developers on the Ethereum ecosystem, ahead of a potential spot in Ether ETF, can indicate confidence among developers in the project’s potential success.