Here are some of the major developments in the world of crypto over the past few days.
Ether (ETH) spike 18% in 24 hours on fresh speculation that a Spot Ether exchange-traded fund could be approved this week, despite months of pessimism. There are chatters that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is asking filers to speed up their 19b-4 filings, according to Bloomberg ETF analysts Eric Balchunas and James Seifert. This has prompted the pair to raise their approval odds from 25% to 75%.
The news comes days before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission must make a final decision on VanEck’s spot Ether ETF application, on May 23. However, Seyffart made it clear that approved 19b-4s must be accompanied with signed off S-1 registration statements for the spot Ether ETFs to launch.
Other cryptocurrencies also rose in the past 24 hours, including Bitcoin (BTC), Solana (SOL), and Dogecoin (DOGE), rising 5.1%, 8.9%, and 9.2%, respectively. Ethereum-linked Uniswap (UNI), Lido DAO (LDO), and Lido Staked Ether (STETH) are the only top 100 coins to surpass Ether by market capitalization in the past 24 hours, cointelegraph reported.
The Deploying American Blockchains Act of 2023 assigns the Department of Commerce the responsibility of promoting and developing blockchain technology. As the crypto community awaits the United States House of Representatives vote on the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century (FIT21) Act, it passed another, more modest, pro-crypto bill: the Deploying American Blockchains Act of 2023, which was approved by a margin of 334 to 79.
This bill would make the Secretary the chief advisor to the President on blockchain and give the Secretary several responsibilities, including policy development, research, and technology promotion. On December 5, the House Energy and Commerce Committee passed it unanimously. This was supported by the Chamber of Digital Commerce and the Blockchain Association.
Mr. Casten, along with Mr. Sherman, Mr. Foster and others was the lead sponsor of the Blockchain Integrity Act, which was introduced in the House of Representatives on May 7th. The bill would ban the use of cryptocurrency blending services for two years until the Treasury Department prepares an assessment. The bill still needs to be voted on. On the same day, the House of Representatives passed two blockchain-related bills: the Consumer Safety Technology Act and the Advancing Resilient Supply Chains Act.
Digital asset investment funds attracted $932 million in weekly inflows. According to CoinShares data, Digital asset investment products inflows totaled $932 million from May 13 to May 17, suggesting inflationary pressures have eased again in the US Consumer Price Index (CPI). It reflects the immediate reaction to the report.
On May 15 , CPI report showed that inflation rose 0.3% in April, following a 0.4% rise in March. CPI rose 3.4% year-on-year, driven by strong gains in the energy and food sectors. Here, Hong Kong and Canada recorded outflows of $83 million and $17 million, respectively.
The SEC's first deadline for crypto ETFs is May 23. ETF analysts James Seyffart and Eric Balchunas have revised their predictions regarding SEC approval of the Spot Ether ETF. Analysts had initially expected a rejection, but after receiving new information about the SEC's position, they now believe there is a 75% chance of approval.