The cryptocurrency space has lost over $100 billion in market capitalization ahead of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ‘s expected decision on VanEck’s spot Ether exchange-traded fund (ETF) application.
Much like the spotlight that shone on Bitcoin earlier this year, the pre-decision volatility has already set in, causing significant price fluctuations across the market, with BTC itself dropping from over $71,000 to a little over $68,000 at the time of writing.
The price of Ethereum’s Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, surged 20% in a single day earlier this week after the SEC abruptly asked the sponsor exchanges to update key filings related to these products. This has fuelled 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. The securities regulator will decide whether to greenlight the investment vehicle or reject it.
Bloomberg’s Senior ETF analyst, Eric Banchunas, has predicted that the SEC’s decision will be made in a few hours, around the same time of day it approved spot Bitcoin ETFs back in January.
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. The market is seemingly confident, as ETH is up 1.8% over the last 24 hours, outperforming BTC’s 3% drop.
Other major cryptocurrencies 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.
