Ethereum-based memecoins rally as market reacts to potential spot ether ETF approvals

Ethereum-based memecoins have surged as regulators may be changing their tune regarding the approval of spot ether ETFs.

Several prominent memecoins on the Ethereum blockchain rallied between 5% and 30% on Tuesday, shortly after the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission reportedly requested at least three securities exchanges revise their applications to list spot ether ETFs.

Pepe has risen 16% in the past 24 hours, The Block's price page shows, while LADYS surged about 28% and DOGE ticked up about 6%. ETH is up about 4.6% to $3,746.93 in the same period.

It remains unclear if regulators will approve spot ether ETFs. The first deadline for a proposed spot ether ETF is May 23, with VanEck's proposal up first. Nevertheless, the market has responded to issuers’ and security exchanges' recent actions to prepare for a potential rubber-stamping of the crypto-based investment vehicles.

Fidelity Investments amended its S-1 registration with regulators on Tuesday morning. In the updated statement, the would-be issuer removed language about ether-related staking from its application. Grayscale Investments also dropped its staking proposal in its proposed spot ether ETF.