This week, Ethereum is at the center of attention, with several key developments that influence its price and market.
With the approval of a Spot Ethereum ETF, Ethereum's value has seen a noticeable surge.
More so, investors and market analysts are watching Ethereum's price development and forecasting it will reach new highs, driven by institutional demand and whales' activities.
Here, we bring you three critical expectations for Ethereum in the coming days.
Ethereum Expected Price Surge with ETF Approval
The crypto community is excited about the recent approval of a Spot Ethereum ETF. This approval led to a huge increase in Ethereum's price, leading to a bullish trend in Bitcoin and Ethereum, as well as in other Altcoins.
In the last 24 hours, Ethereum's price has seen a notable increase of 5%, bringing it to $3,909. Its market capitalization now stands at an impressive $469 billion.
The daily trading volume of Ethereum has also surged by about 68%, reaching nearly $17 billion. Ethereum price prediction, according to experts, is that it could easily surpass $4,000 soon and hit a new all-time high in the coming months.
Investors are expecting significant institutional demand for Ethereum in the weeks ahead. Whales have been actively buying large quantities since the announcement of the Spot Ethereum ETF.
As of May 26, the top 1,000 Ethereum wallets hold 76.52 million ETH, reflecting an acquisition of over 510,000 ETH in just five days. This increased buying activity is driving up Ethereum's price.
Similarly, Other ETF approvals have had a massive impact on cryptocurrency prices. For instance, after the approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF, Bitcoin prices surged by over 70% in two months, reaching new all-time highs.
If Ethereum follows this trend, its price could potentially reach nearly $6,000 by the end of July.
Market experts also believe that Ethereum could hit up to $4,500 before the live trading of the spot ETH ETF begins and could rise to $8,000 or higher by the end of the year. Furthermore, MicroStrategy's founder, Michael Saylor, has recently expressed support for Spot Ether ETF.
Layer 2 Adoption and Ethereum's Network Growth
The total value locked (TVL) in Ethereum Layer 2 networks has reached an all-time high of $47 billion, marking a remarkable 10-fold increase since March.
According to data from L2BEAT, the TVL of all tokens on Ethereum Layer 2 networks stands at $47.45 billion. Arbitrum One leads the pack with a TVL of $19.3 billion, followed by OP Mainnet at $7.86 billion and Base with $6.94 billion. Other networks like Blast, Mantle, Linea, and Starknet also have over $1 billion in TVL. In the past seven days alone, the TVL across all Layer 2 networks has increased by 17.39%, indicating strong growth and momentum.
Additionally, Ethereum's core developers have announced plans for a major network upgrade called Pectra, scheduled for the first quarter of 2025. This upgrade aims to address scalability and performance issues, further improving transaction throughput and user experience.
VanEck, a global fund manager, is optimistic about the future of Ethereum Layer 2 networks. The firm estimates that if Ethereum could capture 60% of the market share across all public blockchains, Layer 2 networks alone could achieve a market cap of $1 trillion by 2030.
Meme Tokens and Ethereum's Market Influence
Frog-themed PEPE and cat-themed MOG have surged to record highs following the approval of the Ethereum ETF.
In the past 24 hours, PEPE and MOG have increased by 11% and 45%, respectively, as traders view these meme tokens as beta bets.
A beta bet is a way of gaining exposure to a main asset by investing in related networks or protocols.
Trading volumes for PEPE have reached over $1.8 billion, compared to the usual range of $400 million to $600 million.
Ether itself rose nearly 5% over the same period, leading the advance among major tokens, while Bitcoin (BTC) 1% decline.
The CoinDesk 20 index, the biggest tokens excluding stablecoins, lost 0.3%.
Futures data shows an increase in open interest for PEPE and MOG-tracked instruments, indicating new money entering the market.
PEPE's open interest rose to $720 million from last week’s $550 million, while MOG’s increased to $8.3 million from $5 million. Rising open interest is seen as a sign of increased market activity and potential price volatility.
Despite this surge, the long-to-short ratio for PEPE is skewed in favor of bears at 54%, indicating that traders are betting against further price increases.
As per the CoinDesk report last week, traders have been using PEPE and MOG as levered ways to gain exposure to ether.
The rally in these tokens began when analysts increased the likelihood of ether ETFs being approved for trading in the U.S.
PEPE even climbed into the top 20 largest tokens by market capitalization, reaching over $6 billion, providing high returns for early investors on an initial purchase of just $460.