Ethereum Name Service, Ethena, And ETH Meme Coins PEPE And FLOKI Among Big Winners As ETH ETF Odds Improve

Updated: 21 May 2024

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Ethereum Name Service (ENS), Ethena (ENA), and ETH-based meme coins like Pepe (PEPE) and Floki (FLOKI) are rallying amid improved approval odds for Ethereum ETFs (exchange-traded funds ETFs) this month.

Ether Surges 17%, Polymarket Approval Chances Rocket as ETF Makes Regulatory Progress

The SEC has asked exchanges to update 19b-4 filings for $ETH ETFs ahead of deadline, suggesting potential approval progress, though not guaranteed https://t.co/tYs0afOzHv

— cryptowaikoah (@cryptowaikoah) May 21, 2024

The Ethereum price has jumped by nearly 20% to $3,723 as of 06:28 a.m. EST. Along with it, the ENS and ENA prices have surged by 38% and 17%, respectively, CoinGecko data shows.

Ethereum-based meme coins are also rallying, with Shiba Inu (SHIB), Pepe (PEPE), and Floki Inu (FLOKI) leading the sector. The Pepe price is the biggest gainer with 18% in gains to trade for $0.00001112.

Crypto Market Rallies On Rising Optimism Over Ethereum ETF Approvals

The market surge came as Bloomberg analysts and Polymarket sharply upped estimates of the likelihood that spot Ethereum ETFs will be approved by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) this month.

“James Seyffart and I are increasing our odds of spot ether ETF approval to 75% (up from 25%),“ Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said in a May 20 X post. This follows “chatter” Balchunas heard yesterday afternoon that might suggest the “SEC could be doing a 180 on this (increasingly political issue),” he added.

Hopes of an approval surged after the SEC asked exchange applicants to update their so-called 19b-4 filings on an accelerated basis, according to a report by CoinDesk that cited three people familiar with the matter.

CoinDesk reported that exchanges that would list and trade ETH ETFS were suddenly asked by the SEC to update their filings, a development it said suggested the regulator might be preparing to approve applications ahead of Thursday, when it’s expected to decide on an application to launch an Ethereum ETF by fund manager VanEck.

A Polymarket contract asking if an Ethereum ETF would be approved by May 31 jumped from 10 cents to 61 cents as of press time. This represents a 61% approval chance.

Other Cryptos Positioned To Gain From Ethereum ETF Approvals

Should the SEC approve Ether ETFs this month, capital overflows are likely to be concentrated among Ethereum-based tokens.

Investors may also explore other altcoins, leading to a broader adoption of these cryptocurrencies. Specifically, the approval could also bolster confidence in decentralized finance (DeFi) projects like Chainlink (LINK), and Uniswap (UNI), which rely on Ethereum’s ecosystem.

Meme coins are likely to magnify broader market gains ignited by possible ETH ETF approvals, as would presale tokens after launch. Among the hottest ICOs right now is WienerAI (WAI), which operates as an ERC-20 token on the Ethereum blockchain to offer users seamless compatibility with a wide range of dApps and exchanges.

Dogeverse is another favorite among analysts. It advertises itself as the world’s first chain-traveling DOGE and is a meme coin on a multichain network spanning Ethereum, BNB Chain, Polygon, Solana, Avalanche, and Base.