Ethereum Jumps 11% Above $1,600 as SEC Greenlights ETF Options: Technicals Point to Further Gains
Ethereum (ETH) has staged a remarkable comeback, surging more than 11% in the past 24 hours to reclaim the critical $1,600 support level. The second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization ETH/USD is showing renewed strength following a series of significant regulatory developments and technical breakthroughs.
SEC Green-Lights Options Trading for Spot Ethereum ETFs
Approved options trading for several spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) marks a historic ruling indicating a changing regulatory scene. Approved on April 9, the approval spans BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA), Bitwise Ethereum ETF (ETF), Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE), Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust (ETF), and Fidelity Ethereum Fund (FETF).
Particularly among institutional traders looking for advanced hedging tools, this discovery marks a significant turning point in Ethereum’s investing attractiveness. ETF options give investors more instruments to expose to spot ether while hedging against possible market downturns—a capacity that could draw more advanced capital to the Ethereum ecosystem.
Still, institutional interest in Ethereum ETFs has stayed somewhat low in spite of this regulatory victory when compared to Bitcoin funds. With net assets of $1.8 billion right now, BlackRock’s ETHA shows a significant 56% drop from year’s beginning.
ETH/USD Technical Analysis: Potential Recovery Ahead?
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The latest price movement of Ethereum shows a notable technical breakthrough above some important resistance points. ETH got momentum to break through the $1,450 and $1,500 resistance zones after building great support around $1,380. On the hourly chart, a main negative trend line with resistance at $1,470 was effectively broken; the price then tested the $1,680 level.
Now trading comfortably above both the $1,550 mark and its 100-hourly Simple Moving Average, the asset shows increasing positive attitude. Although immediate opposition seems around $1,650, a clear action above $1,680 might perhaps set off more advances towards the $1,720 mark. Should this opposition be overcome, technical signs point to Ethereum aiming for the $1,850-$1,880 range in the near term.
Support levels have developed at $1,615 and $1,580; main support comes from $1,535, the 50% Fibonacci retracing level of the last upward run. The MACD indicator shows increasing optimistic momentum while the RSI stays above the 50 zone, thereby supporting the good view.
Ethereum’s Underlying Challenges Persist Despite Price Recovery
Ethereum still suffers major headwinds even with the latest price increase. On-chain data show that ETH has traded below its realized price, a circumstance historically indicating bearish sentiment since it puts most investors in a losing position. Previous June and November 2022 examples of this trend preceded significant price corrections of 51% and 35%, respectively.
Data on the futures market also shows alarming tendencies; open interest stands at $16.7 billion—48% below its January peak of $32.3 billion. Negative funding rates in perpetual futures markets imply traders’ ongoing bearish attitude.
With Ethereum seeing a 33% drop in unique active wallets over the previous month and a 40.5% drop in total transactions, network activity measures underline even more competitive pressures. Concurrently, rival Layer-1 blockchains such as Tron and Fantom have had respective transaction increases of 23% and 16%.
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