(New York) Ether, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, fell Tuesday after several companies launched a new public investment in the currency in the United States, which should help democratize digital currencies.
The American market regulator, the SEC, has given the green light to the marketing of these ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds), investment funds in which any investor can deposit their money and withdraw it at any time, without having to change currency.
Individuals and institutions thus benefit from the variations of ether without holding it directly. The instrument is considered a vector for the popularization of cryptocurrencies.
On Tuesday, several of these ETFs made their debut on the stock market. They were all down in early trading, including funds from asset management giants Fidelity (-1.14%) and Franklin Templeton (-1.01%).
“The event was highly anticipated by the market, which gave operators plenty of time to digest it,” commented analysts at cryptocurrency platform LMAX.
In mid-January, the SEC had already authorized the listing of bitcoin ETFs. As was the case with bitcoin, ether retreated after the arrival of new investment products in this currency.
By 12:30 p.m. ET, ether was down 0.70% to $3,465.80.
Launched in 2015, ether is now, by far, the second largest digital currency in terms of total value, now estimated at over $415 billion.
“There are many indications that post-IPO sales will be quickly absorbed before a further upward acceleration,” LMAX analysts said.
For the latter, ether was not able to benefit as much as bitcoin did at the time from the arrival of ETFs, due to the liquidation, at the beginning of July, of the Japanese cryptocurrency exchange platform Mt. Gox.
The failure led to the conversion of large amounts of digital currencies into traditional currencies, putting pressure on prices. An ether ETF was already issued on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in late April.