Ethereum price approaches $3k amidst spot ETF anticipation, Dencun upgrade

The price of Ethereum (ETH) approached $3,000 on Feb. 19 amidst anticipation concerning developments that are expected to occur in the coming months.

As of 8:35 pm UTC, ETH was priced at $2,937 with a market capitalization of $352.96 billion. That change represents 4.12% growth over 24 hours — significantly greater than Bitcoin’s 0.4% gains over the same period and also greater than the crypto market’s overall 1.2% gains.

Lido Staked Ether (STETH) saw comparable gains of 3.88% over 24 hours. Ethereum 2.0 staking tokens as a category saw gains of 5.4%, according to data from CoinGecko.

Ethereum was responsible for a relatively small portion of 24-hour liquidations. The asset accounted for $35.48 million of liquidations, including $8.43 million in long liquidations and $27.05 in short liquidations.

Growth may be due to ETF anticipation, Dencun upgrade

Ethereum’s latest gains may be connected to the possibility that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will approve a spot Ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETF).

Though no significant regulatory developments around spot Ethereum ETFs occurred today, a relevant report from the brokerage firm Bernstein received widespread coverage. Analysts at the company predicted a 50% chance that a spot Ethereum ETF will be approved by May and a near-certain chance that such a fund will be approved within one year. Combined with other similar predictions in past months, this report may have affected investor sentiment and market activity.

Some backlash has also emerged around Ethereum’s ETF prospects. Apollo co-founder Thomas Fahrer suggested that Coinbase’s leading role as an ETF custodian could compromise Ethereum’s proof-of-stake model by allowing the firm to “control the entire network.”

Data from Dune Analytics suggests that Coinbase is currently responsible for about 15% of all ETH staking, while another staking platform, Lido, is responsible for more than 31%. Because it is unknown how much crypto might be held in spot ETH ETFs, it is unclear whether Coinbase could gain dominance by holding funds on behalf of those ETFs. Furthermore, it is unclear whether the SEC will permit staking of ETH held in spot Ethereum ETFs, though some applicants aim to do so.

Apart from those ETF prospects, there is also significant anticipation around Ethereum’s Dencun upgrade, which is set to take place on March 13. That upgrade will notably include proto-danksharding, a feature expected to improve ETH transaction costs and scalability.