Ethereum Hits 20-Month High as Bitcoin ETF Approval Spurs Altcoin Gains

Several large-cap cryptocurrencies, including ethereum, Solana, Cardano and others, rallied following the approval of a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the US.

btc price remained largely stable following the news, posting a modest 1.35% gain to trade at $46,258 at press time. This price development is surprising considering the buzz and enthusiasm the apps have generated over the past few months.

Several analysts had predicted that the approval of the ETF could be a “selling the news” event. Vetle Lunde, Senior Research Analyst at K33 reclaimed that btc price performance following the January 9 SEC fake ETF approval rumors showed that the “ETF approval trial favors a news selling reaction.”

However, the crypto analyst michael van de poppe rang that the price of btc could improve “with the flow of transactions after the approval of the ETF.” He added that this could be the cycle where the price of btc surpasses $300,000.

Meanwhile, data from cryptoslate show that the other top 10 digital assets by market capitalization, excluding stablecoins, posted gains of more than 4% over the past day. Notably, eth jumped 10% to over $2,600, its highest value since May 2022.

Similarly, the high-flying SOL token rose 4% to reclaim the $100 level, while ADA, BNB, Avalanche, XRP, and Dogecoin gained 14%, 5%, 13%, 6%, and 7%, respectively. .

Furthermore, the overall crypto market increased by 4% to $1.77 trillion.

Over $270M Settlement Follows ETF Approval

The price action of these digital assets resulted in the liquidation of approximately $272 million from more than 85,000 traders.

glass coin data shows that bitcoin traders lost almost $85 million during the reporting period, with the majority of the losses being borne by traders who bet on an upward price movement of the leading cryptocurrency.

In contrast, ethereum's price surge resulted in significant losses for short traders who were betting against an upward price movement. This cohort of traders lost $54 million, while long traders incurred losses of approximately $30 million.

Notably, the most substantial liquidation was a $3.81 million short position against ethereum on Binance.

Other notable assets such as Solana, XRP, and BNB also experienced liquidations worth $12.53 million, $3.81 million, and $793,000, respectively.

Meanwhile, Binance and OKX traders accounted for more than $190 million of the total losses during the reporting period.