Analysts at K33 Research suggest that the introduction of spot Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) might result in Ether surpassing Bitcoin once they become operational in the United States. The anticipated launch date is July 8, marking a significant opportunity for Ether (ETH) in terms of price action. Conversely, Bitcoin (BTC) is expected to face selling pressure as approximately $8.5 billion is set to be returned to Mt. Gox creditors this week, according to a report by K33 analysts Vetle Lunde and David Zimmerman on July 2.
Despite Bitcoin leading the market with substantial gains propelled by over $14 billion flowing into its spot ETFs in 2024, Ether has lagged behind for more than a year. Lunde and Zimmerman predict a potential temporary stumbling of ETH’s price right after the ETFs launch. However, similar to Bitcoin’s experience, they anticipate that inflows to the spot funds will ultimately boost Ether’s price.
Lunde expressed confidence in the solid catalyst effect of ETFs on Ether’s relative strength as summer progresses and inflows accumulate. He also sees the current ETH/BTC prices as advantageous for patient traders. The analysts noted that the market currently disagrees with their perspective, highlighting Ether futures trading at a lower value compared to Bitcoin futures and the ETH/BTC price ratio standing at 1 ETH to 0.055 BTC.
Over the past year, ETH has been on a downward trend relative to Bitcoin, hitting a yearly low of 0.045 on May 24. The trend only reversed following the unexpected approval of ETH ETFs by the SEC. This approval surprised analysts and led to the current value of 0.055 for ETH/BTC, as indicated by TradingView data.
Despite this positive development, Lunde and Zimmerman pointed out that Ether futures open interest remains high, suggesting that many traders are leveraging substantial amounts to speculate on ETH’s price trajectory leading up to the ETFs’ launch.