A message from RockWallet

Bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) consolidated recent gains early this morning ahead of the SEC's decision on VanEck's spot ETH ETF application later today. BTC is little changed, down about 0.8% in the last 24 hours at $69,600, while ETH has risen nearly 2.75% to over $3,800. The wider digital asset market, as measured by the CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20) is down just over 0.5%. The general outlook for the two largest cryptocurrencies remains bullish. BTC and ETH options on derivatives exchange Deribit continue to reveal a bias for calls, or contracts that allow traders to profit from price rises, according to data tracked by Amberdata.

BlackRock, Grayscale and Bitwise filed amended 19b-4 forms with the SEC for their proposed spot ether ETFs, removing the staking provisions some commentators said were causing regulatory roadblocks. Staking is the process of locking specific cryptocurrencies for a set period to help support the operation of a blockchain for a reward. These rewards are considered mainly passive income among crypto traders. All ether ETF hopefuls have now filed their amended proposals ahead of an approval or disapproval decision expected today. Fidelity filed earlier this week, with VanEck, Franklin Templeton, Invesco Galaxy and ARK 21Shares following suit. Hashdex is the only issuer yet to file an amendment to its Ethereum ETF.

Shares in Nvidia reached a record high during Wednesday's post-market hours after the company beat analyst estimates to report record revenue of $26.04 billion for the first quarter. The rally might be a positive signal for cryptocurrencies, including tokens supposedly associated with AI technology. This is because, historically, the inflow of money into the crypto market and the so-called AI coins has been partly contingent on outsized gains in NVDA and the tech-heavy Nasdaq index. Top AI coins such as FET, ICP, RNDR and GRT traded mixed, having rallied in the lead-up to the NVDA announcement, according to data by CoinGecko.

Approval of a spot ether ETF in the U.S. could see the token rally as much as 60% in the coming months, QCP Capital said in a broadcast on Telegram.

The forecast is based on bitcoin's rise from $42,000 to $73,000 in the two weeks after BTC ETFs started trading on Jan. 11.

"With Friday's implied volatility above 100%, the market is expecting fireworks," QCP said. "We think approval is now highly likely with trading expected as early as next week.”

Implied volatility measures the market's expectation of future price fluctuations for a financial instrument. Buying activity increased on both centralized and blockchain-based crypto exchanges, on-chain analytics firm CryptoQuant said in a Wednesday report. Open interest on ether-tracked futures spiked in tandem to a record $14 billion. That's 67% of bitcoin open interest as of Wednesday, an unusually high level.

“Traders seem to be getting more exposure now to ETH relative to Bitcoin,” CryptoQuant said. "The largest daily spot buying from ETH permanent holders so far in 2024."

A message from