What Coinbase’s Ethereum ETF stance may mean for ETH’s price

• The exchange addressed certain issues the regulator might have with approving the ETF.
• ETH’s price might jump past $3,000 before the potential approval.

Crypto exchange Coinbase has told the U.S SEC. that it was ready to support the Ethereum [ETH] ETF application Grayscale filed.

According to the memo directed at Vanessa Countryman, the SEC Secretary, Coinbase noted that it has satisfied that Exchange Act since it was publicly listed in the country.

Beyond that, the exchange noted that Ethereum’s transition to Proof-of-Stake (PoS) has made it clear that the cryptocurrency is not a security. It explained that,

“The market has long understood that ETH is not a security. Senior officials of the Commission have publicly said as much on several occasions over the past six years, and neither the Commission nor its staff has disavowed this position, even after the Merge.”

No sleeping on ETH

The exchange also noted that it was the major custodial of the recently approved spot Bitcoin [BTC] ETFs. As such, the commission should have any issues approving the Ethereum ETFs.

Since the Bitcoin ETF approval in January, market participants have been optimistic that Ethereum would follow.

Also, the SEC had set the potential approval deadline for May. As a result, attention has been shifting from BTC to ETH. At press time, ETH changed hands at $3,000, a 30% hike in the 30 days.

This was on par with Bitcoin’s performance.

But despite the hike, AMBCrypto had reported how ETH’s price could rise higher before the said deadline.

One reason for this projection was that optimism around the project had increased. If it continues this way, buying pressure for ETH could be intense, which in turn, could lead to a higher price.

From an on-chain perspective, the number of addresses with non-zero balances has been increasing.

Source: Glassnode

The ETF can add more fuel to the hike

As of the 1st of January, Ethereum addresses with non-zero balances were 111,673,112. However, our assessment of Glassnode’s data showed that the number has jumped to 115,061,094.

This increase suggested that demand for ETH on the retail side has been improving.

If retail demand maintains the momentum while institutions flock in later on, ETH could rise beyond $3,500. In terms of the Market Value to Realized Value Ratio (MVRV), we noticed that it has increased.

According to data from Santiment, ETH’s 30-day MVRV ratio was 16.41%.

This metric tells when the market holds large unrealized profits or losses. Therefore, you can tell when a cryptocurrency is close to its local top or when it is time to accumulate.

Source: Santiment

Read Ethereum’s [ETH] Price Prediction 2024-2025

The more the ratio decreases, the more it could be termed as undervalued. However, the increase in ETH’s case suggested that more people might be willing to sell at press time.

Regardless, this does not imply that ETH’s price action might stall or decrease. While there is a chance for a retracement, the price might also increase because of external factors like the spot Ethereum ETF.