Ethereum Rallies as BlackRock Boss Eyes ETH ETF After Bitcoin

In the day and change since the historic debut of 10 spot Bitcoin ETFs on Wall Street, one clear crypto winner has emerged: Ethereum. 

Though BTC has seen many ups and downs since Bitcoin ETFs were approved Wednesday, the coin’s rival, ETH, appears to have reaped most of the benefits of the event, rocketing steadily upwards. ETH hit $2,698 on Friday, approaching $2,700 for the first time since the crypto bear market kicked off in April 2022. 

The token has since leveled to $2,645 at writing—still up 18.5% in the last week. 

Much of that sprint can be attributed to growing optimism that a spot Ethereum ETF might become a reality in mere months, thanks to Bitcoin paving the way.

On Friday, for instance, Larry Fink, CEO of Wall Street goliath BlackRock, told a CNBC interviewer that he’s all in on an Ethereum ETF. 

“We believe this is just the beginning,” Fink said this morning. “I see value in having an Ethereum ETF.”

In November, BlackRock filed an application with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to issue a spot ETH ETF. Analysts have predicted that the application will be successful, as the legal realities that compelled the SEC to begrudgingly approve a spot Bitcoin ETF likely also apply to Ethereum. 

Fink’s enthusiasm for an Ethereum ETF appears to be tied to his broader goal of onboarding blockchain technology into traditional finance.

“ETFs are step one in the technological revolution in the financial markets,” he said. “Step two is going to be the tokenization of every financial asset.”

The BlackRock CEO also voiced his enthusiasm at the great success Bitcoin ETFs have enjoyed in their first day on the market, saying he was “very happy with the flows.” In their first day alone, spot Bitcoin ETFs cleared a whopping $4.5 billion worth of trading volume. 

Spot Bitcoin ETFs allow traditional financial institutions and investors to gain exposure to BTC without holding any cryptocurrency themselves. A spot ETH ETF would do the same for Ethereum. 

Analysts have estimated that spot Bitcoin ETFs have now exposed the cryptocurrency to $14 trillion worth of traditional American financial assets.

Edited by Andrew Hayward