Last Week in Review: The race for an ETH ETF, and a short-lived crypto rally

The highlights from last week’s headline grabbers. All the important news, numbers and events from the world of crypto in one place
News from the block
? Bitcoin rallies to highest price in a month
- Bitcoin pushed past the $28,000 level in the early hours of Monday morning with other cryptocurrencies in tow. It marked the highest price for the market leader in over a month.
- The sudden rally had analysts scratching their heads over what exactly might have caused the surge which saw Bitcoin up more than 4% at one point.
- Market momentum dissipated at the same rate it began with Bitcoin pulling back by 2.7% the following day.
??️ The SEC delayed it decision on BTC ETF approval
- The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) delayed its decision on whether to give the go-ahead for several Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) applications.
- “Contrary to market expectations, the SEC’s latest delays occurred two weeks earlier than the scheduled October 16 to 19 deadlines,” Forbes reported.
- “The regulator’s decision appears to be influenced by the impending US government shutdown, which could disrupt financial regulation and other federal operations,” the news publication noted.
? There was a lot of hype around the first ETH Futures ETFs
- “The jockeying has begun in full as Valkyrie announcing they are buying Ether futures for $BTF today (ahead of formal name change on Tue),” Eric Balchunas, ETF analyst for Bloomberg, noted in a post on X.
- Asset manager Van Eck also confirmed the launch of its Ethereum futures ETF.
- “As we’ve been saying both with ETH futures, but especially with spot bitcoin, it will be a marketing war like we’ve never seen since they all do same thing and launch on same day,” Balchunas said in another post.
- Dampened trading activity in the ETH futures ETF markets on Monday failed to match the hype, said one analyst. “Overall, the shallow flows depict a hollow market and a deficient demand for ETH exposure,” Vetle Lunde, an analyst at K33 Research, said on X.
?? The SEC’s Chair answered questions in front of Congress
- Last week, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler took questions from the House on a wide range of matters, including the SEC’s handling of crypto regulation.
- In answering one of the many questions, Chair Gensler said it is yet to decide how to respond about a judge’s ruling that the SEC should relook their stance on bitcoin exchange traded fund (ETF) applications.
- “It’s still an active consideration of the commission,” Gensler said in his testimony. “We have great respect for the courts.”
TL;DID read
What kind of crypto investor are you?
Crunching the numbers
? $1.96 million – The first-day trading volume of ETH futures ETFs.
? $1.01 billion – First day trading volume by BITO, a ProShares Bitcoin futures ETF launched in October 2021. It’s an unfair comparison to the ETH ETF volumes, given that BITO was launched at the peak of the last bull cycle.
⏱️ 240 – The total number of days the SEC has to reach a decision on whether or not to approve the various Bitcoin spot-ETF filings. The SEC said last week it will use all the allotted days to reach a decision by 10 January.
Crypto trivia
What are smart contracts?
Protect your crypto
The first step to protecting yourself against scams is staying up to date with the various ways criminals can get access to your crypto investments. Read below how to avoid falling prey to romance scams.
?️ What are the red flags?
*This information should not be construed as a solicitation to trade. All opinions, news, research, analysis, prices or other information is provided as general market commentary for information purposes only and is not investment advice or recommendation. Luno always advises you to obtain your own independent financial advice before investing or trading in cryptocurrency.