- Ether’s price has spiked by about 15% in 24 hours, with the crypto now hovering at around $1,532. Ether had been under $1,500 for over a month.
- CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam recently said that he didn’t think Ether was a security. This could have contributed to the price bump.
- Ether bulls also appear to be taking over. One whale moved 320,000 ETH last week, and shortly after Ether’s price jumped.
Ether has spiked by about 15% in 24 hours, taking its price from roughly $1340 to $1539. The rest of the market has also experienced a big rise, but Ether is among the best-performing cryptocurrencies. It has helped contribute to the crypto asset classes’ 6.8% increase in market cap, which is now at $1.03 trillion.
The price of Ether has been under $1500 for just over a month — despite the Ethereum Merge, which transformed the network into a Proof-of-Stake one. That development was expected to boost Ether’s price, but that has not happened. The cryptocurrency was trading under $1500 for about 40 days.
Ethereum’s hard fork sibling Ethereum Classic has also seen its price rise considerably. The ETC coin has gone up by over 12% in the last 24 hours, with its value at around $25 as of press time.
CFTC Chairman Says BTC and ETH Are Commodities
There was a sigh of relief among investors this week as Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Rostin Behnam said that both Bitcoin and Ether are commodities. This is in contrast to what SEC Chair Gary Gensler believes. The latter thinks Bitcoin is a commodity but has said that Ether might classify as a security.
Both the CFTC and SEC have been at loggerheads regarding their authority over the crypto market. But Behnam was having none of that when he responded to a question about who would have more power, saying that it was cynical to suggest that the two agencies couldn’t solve issues together.
One other reason why Ether might be doing well is that the price of Ether is closely associated with central bank policies. At least that’s according to Matrixport head of research and strategy Markus Thielen, who said so in an interview with CoinDesk.
Ether Bulls Taking Over?
Ether looks good, as it has broken out of the troublesome $1,370 zone. It has shot past that, and if bulls continue to push, it just might find new support levels.
Ethereum saw a lot of large transactions last week. Data from Santiment showed that one whale moved 320,000 ETH. Not long after the transaction, Ether’s price bound considerably.
Ethereum could be one of the biggest gainers next year as the network develops and more entities come on board. The project is due for more upgrades, and DeFi could make big gains next year. As such, the bulls just might be right.