A new law in the US could give the president the authority to block crypto transactions. Asset manager VanEck predicts Ethereum will reach $22,000 by 2030, supported by financial and major tech adoption and the launch of spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs), although the official launch of ETFs in the United States may take some time. Here are three significant developments from the past 24 hours.
New Law Proposed in the US
A new law grants the US president broad powers to block access to crypto assets, causing serious concerns among commentators. Leading voice in the crypto assets field, Scott Johnsson, criticized the law on June 6th for its broad scope, stating:
“It is hard to understand how this is not designed to give the president user-level blocking authority over any protocol/smart contract deemed to be controlled, operated, or made available by foreign sanctions by the Treasury Secretary.”
The new law broadly defines crypto assets as any digital representation of value recorded on cryptographically secure distributed ledgers. According to the new law, the president can block transactions between US persons and foreign entities identified as supporting terrorist organizations. This also includes imposing strict conditions on foreign financial institutions with accounts in the US if they are found to facilitate such transactions.
Notable Target for Ethereum
Ethereum ecosystem has nearly nine times more daily active users than four years ago, and analysts say increasing demand will take Ethereum to new dimensions. According to data compiled by crypto ETF provider Bitwise, in the first quarter of 2020, Ethereum and Layer-2 solutions Arbitrum and Polygon had more than 250,000 daily active users on average.
As of the first quarter of 2024, this daily user count reached approximately 2.25 million, nearly nine times more. Meanwhile, crypto ETF issuer VanEck raised its price target for Ethereum, expecting the cryptocurrency to reach $22,000 by 2030.
In a blog published on June 5th by VanEck’s head of crypto asset research, analysts raised their 2030 expectations for Ethereum, noting that its revenue per user surpasses most Web2 businesses and its popularity among traditional financial market participants will increase.
Gary Gensler’s Statement on Bitcoin
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler stated that it will take some time for spot Ethereum ETF funds to start trading in the US. In an interview with CNBC on June 5th, Gensler said the Ethereum ETF process still requires several steps before approved products are offered to the public. In practice, this means these products could be months away from being listed on exchanges.
On May 23rd, the securities regulator approved several spot Ethereum ETF funds from BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale, Franklin Templeton, ARK 21Shares, Invesco Galaxy, and Bitwise. The green light came five months after the regulator approved several spot Bitcoin ETF funds that attracted billions of dollars in institutional capital.
