[NEWS] "Ethereum will rise to over $10,000 this year" - Bitwise Analysis

Juan Leon, a cryptocurrency analyst at asset management company Bitwise, said he believes the price of the cryptocurrency Ethereum (ETH) will soar in the future and could reach more than $10,000 (approximately JPY 1.48 million) by 2024.

He spoke in an interview with overseas cryptocurrency media Coindesk.

Leon is optimistic about the outlook for Ethereum. He suggested that "it could rise to more than $10,000, let alone $8,000 (approximately JPY 1.18 million) by the end of this year."

Leon cited two factors that could promote the growth of Ethereum.

First, he pointed out that the major upgrade "Dencun," scheduled for the 13th of this month, will reduce fees for the Layer 2 network. He explained that this will lead to more activity on the Ethereum blockchain and increased user demand.

He also pointed out that the SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) is close to deciding whether to approve an Ethereum spot ETF in May. While he said that the possibility of approval is not as clear as that of a Bitcoin spot ETF, he said that the expectation of its realization will lead to an increase in the price of Ethereum.

This price movement is similar to last year, when the price rose along with the expectation that a Bitcoin spot ETF would be approved.

Mr. Leon estimates the probability of an Ethereum spot ETF being approved at "50-60%." Even if the approval is postponed in May, he expressed confidence that "it will be approved sooner or later" within this year.

With the approval of an Ethereum spot ETF, it is expected that interest in Ethereum will increase among institutional investors. Therefore, there is a possibility that the situation in which a large amount of funds have flowed since the Bitcoin spot ETF started trading will also occur in Ethereum.

As brokerage firm Bernstein noted in a report, these factors include Ethereum's deflationary supply, the increasing trend of re-staking led by EigenLayer, and increasing DeFi (decentralized finance) activity, which contribute to the positive outlook.

ETH spot ETF decision postponed again

On the 4th of this month, the SEC again postponed the approval of the Ethereum spot ETF applied for by BlackRock, the world's largest asset management company. In January, Fidelity's Ethereum spot ETF was also postponed, and the approval situation remains unclear.

Positive analysts expect approval within May, but on the other hand, there are also voices saying that those that have already been applied for may be rejected once because there are many issues that need to be sorted out.

The SEC has not mentioned whether Ethereum has securities characteristics, which is expected to be a major factor in deciding whether to approve the spot ETF.

Reference: CoinDesk
Image: Shutterstock

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