Ether, the native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum network, has experienced a notable increase in long-term holder accumulation, coinciding with a 2% price drop over a 24-hour period.
In a recent post on X, Julio Moreno, the head of research at CryptoQuant, highlighted the surge in Ethereum demand, stating that buying by permanent holders reached the second-highest level on record.
Within a 24-hour timeframe on June 12, accumulation addresses acquired approximately 298,000 Ether tokens, equivalent to roughly $1.34 billion at the time of reporting.
This acquisition volume was only 6% lower than the previous record set on September 11, 2023, when long-term holders purchased 317,000 Ether as the price dipped below $1,600.
Ether Sees 8% Drop in Past Week
The increased demand for Ether comes amidst an 8.49% price decline over the past seven days.
Although the cryptocurrency briefly fell below $3,800 on June 8, it has remained above $3,400 during this period, based on CoinMarketCap data.
At the time of writing, Ether is trading at $3,500.
The $3,500 price level has proved to be a resilient resistance for Ether bulls, as observed in past price action.
In other news, the chair of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler, hinted at the possible approval of spot Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for trading by the end of September.
During a Senate Banking Committee hearing, Gensler informed lawmakers of the regulator’s potential to grant final approvals for listing and trading shares of spot Ether ETFs within the next three months.
The SEC had previously granted preliminary regulatory approval for spot Ether ETFs on May 23, approving 19b-4 filings from eight applicants.
However, trading can only commence once the S-1 registration statements are also approved.
Spot Ether ETF Approval Proves ETH is Not a Security
The recent approval of spot ETH ETFs potentially confirms Ether’s status as a non-security, according to industry experts.
As reported, Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart has said that the approval of these commodity-based trust shares implies that the SEC explicitly recognizes Ether as not being a security.
Seyffart further suggested that this recognition could extend to other tokens as well, solidifying their classification as commodities.
Digital asset lawyer Justin Browder echoed Seyffart’s sentiment, stating that if Ether ETFs receive S-1 approval, which is the final requirement for them to begin trading, it would settle the debate once and for all, affirming that ETH is indeed not a security.
Adam Cochran, a partner at venture capital firm Cinneamhain Ventures, took the argument a step further, suggesting that this line of thinking could be applied to tokens of other projects as well.
On May 23, the SEC officially approved 19b-4 applications from VanEck, BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale, Franklin Templeton, ARK 21Shares, Invesco Galaxy, and Bitwise for issuing spot Ether ETFs.
Notably, several ETF issuers removed staking from their final amendments.