One of the main drivers of growth was the anticipation of the launch of spot ETFs on ether – several applications for such funds are currently being considered by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Analysts at AllianceBernstein give a 50% chance of launching in May of this year and are confident of launching an Ether ETF within a year.
Also fueling the growth of ETH is the expected Dencun update, which will introduce support for several proposals, including EIP-4844. We are talking about the introduction of proto-dunksharding – a data sharing system that will significantly increase the efficiency and throughput of Ethereum.
The last time the ETH rate exceeded $3,000 was about 22 months ago, and in June 2022 it fell to $883. However, Ether is recovering faster than the broader cryptocurrency market. Many analysts expect continued growth of the second cryptocurrency. For example, Michael van de Poppe believes that the ETH rate will reach $3,800 or even $4,500 in the foreseeable future.
It was previously reported that currently 25% of the issued ETH is used in Ethereum staking.