Ether's price reached $3,000 earlier on Tuesday for the first time in nearly two years amid speculation that spot ether exchange-traded funds could be approved in the U.S. as early as May.

The second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap peaked at $3,003.40 just after 9 a.m. ET before pulling back. Ether is currently changing hands at $2,931, according to The Block’s price page — up 1% in the past 24 hours, 14% over the past week and 30% year-to-date.

Bitcoin also reached a fresh yearly high of $52,908 today, gaining 8% over the past week amid a broader crypto market rally, with the GMCI 30 Index up from 107.7 to 116.

ETH -1.99% /USD price chart. Image: The Block/TradingView.

Is a spot ether ETF next?

With the spot bitcoin ETFs launching successfully in January, attention has turned toward another narrative for crypto markets — the prospect of a spot ether ETF in the U.S. Big-name firms, including Fidelity, BlackRock and Franklin Templeton have applied for a spot ether ETF over the last few months.

Growing speculation over the potential approval of such products this year has seen the price of ether outperform that of bitcoin in 2024. Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas recently suggested a 70% possibility for approval by May 23 — the final deadline for the Securities and Exchange Commission to rule on a spot ether ETF application from Ark and 21Shares, the first that was filed.

Balchunas’ view is shared by Standard Chartered, with the bank predicting a potential $4,000 target for ether if it mimics bitcoin’s pre-spot ETF approval performance. However, investment bank TD Cowen said the SEC is unlikely to approve spot ether ETFs "any time soon," and JPMorgan doesn't see more than a 50% chance of a spot ether ETF approval by May.

In January, SEC Chair Gary Gensler stated that the agency’s approval of spot bitcoin ETFs was limited to the single cryptocurrency and “shouldn’t be read to be anything more than that.”

Further uncertainties remain surrounding spot ether ETF approvals, given Gensler's stance that cryptocurrencies other than bitcoin are securities. However, Gensler’s predecessor, Jay Clayton, once mentioned that a small number of tokens might no longer be considered securities if they became broadly decentralized, and former SEC Director of Corporate Finance William Hinman also said in 2018 that, considering its decentralized nature, ether was not a security.