Cryptocurrency markets remain buoyant amid Ethereum futures peaking to an all-time high of $15.1 billion, propelled by speculation of an imminent spot Ethereum ETF approval.
What Happened: Major cryptocurrencies are trading higher at the time of writing.
Prices as of 4 p.m. Eastern Time:
| Cryptocurrency | Price | Gains +/– |
| Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) | $69,331.92 | -1.2% |
| Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) | $3,715.73 | +7.8% |
| Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) | $175.36 | -6.2% |
| Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) | $0.1643 | +4.1% |
| Shiba Inu (CRYPTO: SHIB) | $0.00002517 | +008% |
Notable Statistics:
- IntoTheBlock data noted a 53.8% surge in large transaction volume and a 7.7% increase in daily active addresses. Transactions greater than $100,000 increased from 5,333 transactions as of May 19 to 9,116 transactions as of May 20.
- Coinglass data noted 84,969 traders being liquidated in the past 24 hours; the total liquidations came in at $303.90 million.
- A Barrons report highlighted that the SEC has informed exchanges that it is leaning towards approving spot Ethereum ETFs.
Notable Developments:
- SEC Seeks Changes To Ether ETF Filings, Raising Approval Hopes
- Ethereum Rises 20%, Futures Open Interest Hits Record $15B As ETF Approval Odds Jump To 75%
- $241M Spot Bitcoin ETF Inflows On Monday Fuel Rally Above $70K
- SEC Could Approve Spot Ethereum ETF 'This Week:' Report
Top Gainers:
| Cryptocurrency | Price | Gains +/- |
| Pepe (CRYPTO: PEPE) | $0.00001241 | +15.7% |
| Bonk (CRYPTO: BONK) | $0.0000306 | +14.2% |
| Uniswap (CRYPTO: UNI) | $9.44 | +11% |
Also Read: Bitcoin Could Approach $80,000 By June: 10x Research
Analyst Notes: Lluciano aka Lucky tweeted that the current pullback below $70,000 is "completely normal and healthy." He goes on to add, "BTC needs some time to rest before it can firmly stay above $70,000."
He advises, "Just keep dollar-cost averaging into the good projects."
Stockmoney Lizards targets $80,000 as Bitcoin's next price level.
#Bitcoin
— Stockmoney Lizards (@StockmoneyL) May 21, 2024
This recent move has been very bullish. as long as we keep the range highs including higher lows, we see no reasons the upmove shouldn't continue.
Next target 80k
POC (~66.4k) will be support if we retrace from here.
Let's go. pic.twitter.com/2SECySoyyr
Dami-Defi notes that the "Sell in May and go away" crew will not be believing their eyes. He highlights Bitcoin's 5-year trend, "Oct to Apr buy: +1,449%, May to Sep buy: -29%," although "it could be different" this time.
What's Next: The influence of Bitcoin as an institutional asset class is expected to be thoroughly explored at Benzinga's upcoming Future of Digital Assets event on Nov. 19.
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