Ether, Lido DAO, Arbitrum Soar Amid ETH ETF Speculations

• Ethereum and Other Native Tokens Experience Growth amid Expectations of Ether ETF
• BlackRock Files S-1 Form for iShares Ethereum Trust
• The Impact of False Tweets on Price Volatility
• Chart of the Day

Ethereum and Other Native Tokens Experience Growth amid Expectations of Ether ETF

Within the last 24 hours, Ether (ETH) and native tokens from apps on the Ethereum$2,315 -2.42% platform witnessed a surge as traders speculated on the possibility of an Ether exchange-traded fund (ETF) following the expected approval of a Bitcoin$42,260 -0.64% ETF in the U.S. In the early hours of Wednesday in Europe, Ether traded above $2,400, which was a 5% increase in 24 hours. LDO, the governance token of the decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) driving the liquid-staking system Lido, saw a hike surpassing 20% while the ARB token, part of Ethereum's scaling solution Arbitrum, rose by nearly 17%. Conversely, Bitcoin dipped by 2.2%.

BlackRock Files S-1 Form for iShares Ethereum Trust

BlackRock recently completed an S-1 form filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its iShares Ethereum Trust, a spot Ether ETF. The crypto industry anticipates the SEC's approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF as early as today, leading BlackRock and ARK 21Shares to reduce their proposed ETFs' fees, thus joining rivals who announced reductions yesterday. BlackRock disclosed that it would charge 25 basis points on net asset value in a revised S-1 filing on Wednesday. They had initially declared a fee of 30 basis points on Monday.

The asset-management titan is proposing a promotional rate of 12 basis points on the first $5 billion during the initial 12 months post-listing. ARK 21Shares cut the fee by 4 basis points to 0.21%, from a previously stated 0.25%. These firms have agreed to waive the fee entirely for the first six months or the first $1 billion in assets, whichever comes first.

The Impact of False Tweets on Price Volatility

Recent price volatility in Bitcoin trading followed a series of fraudulent tweets from the SEC's X account, inducing the liquidation of nearly $90 million worth of Bitcoin long and short positions. This incident highlights the industry's susceptibility to manipulation. On Tuesday, hackers seized the SEC's X account and used it to hint at the highly anticipated Bitcoin ETF approval decision. Consequently, Bitcoin's price spiked to $47,680 from the $46,800 level. However, after discovering the tweets' falsity, the price dropped to as low as $45,400.

Chart of the Day

The featured chart demonstrates the dollar value of assets managed by ProShares' Bitcoin futures-based ETF, trading on the NYSE under the ticker BITO. The AUM reached a record $2 billion on Tuesday. The spot ETF narrative appears to have stimulated investor interest in exchange-traded products tied to BTC.

Edited by Jonathan Stoker