Ether, Ethereum's native cryptocurrency, has seen a surge in long-term holder accumulation. This coincides with a 2% price drop over 24 hours. Or is it a coincidence at all?
CryptoQuant's head of research, Julio Moreno, reported on X that Ethereum demand has increased significantly. Buying by permanent holders reached the second-highest level on record.
On June 12, accumulation addresses acquired about 298,000 Ether tokens. This equates to roughly $1.34 billion at the time of reporting.
The acquisition volume was only 6% lower than the previous record. On September 11, 2023, long-term holders purchased 317,000 Ether as the price fell below $1,600.
Ether's price has declined 8.49% over the past week. It briefly fell below $3,800 on June 8.
The cryptocurrency has remained above $3,400 during this period, according to CoinMarketCap. Ether is currently trading at $3,500.
The $3,500 level has been a persistent resistance for Ether bulls. This is evident from past price action.
SEC Chair Gary Gensler hinted at possible approval of spot Ether ETFs by September. He informed lawmakers of this during a Senate Banking Committee hearing.
The SEC granted preliminary regulatory approval for spot Ether ETFs on May 23. They approved 19b-4 filings from eight applicants.
Trading can only begin once S-1 registration statements are also approved. Industry experts suggest this approval confirms Ether's non-security status.
Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart stated that this implies SEC recognition of Ether as a non-security. He suggested this could extend to other tokens.
Digital asset lawyer Justin Browder concurred. He said S-1 approval would definitively settle the debate on ETH's non-security status.
Adam Cochran of Cinneamhain Ventures extended this argument to other project tokens. Several ETF issuers removed staking from their final amendments.
The SEC approved 19b-4 applications from various firms on May 23. These include VanEck, BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale, Franklin Templeton, ARK 21Shares, Invesco Galaxy, and Bitwise.