Ether tops $2,000 for the first time since April, bitcoin reaches an 18-month high

The price of ether jumped Thursday, topping the key $2,000 level for the first time since April, after BlackRock took initial steps toward filing for a spot ether ETF.

Ether was last higher by nearly 7.48% at $2,037.61, according to Coin Metrics. Meanwhile, bitcoin added 2.67% to trade at $36,574.83. Earlier, it climbed as high as $37,970, its highest level since May 2022.

The website for Delaware’s Division of Corporations showed that an iShares Ethereum Trust was registered on Thursday. A similar notice for the iShares Bitcoin Trust came on June 8, one week before BlackRock’s filing for a bitcoin ETF. BlackRock declined to comment on the matter. 

ETF optimism had been building earlier in the morning, with bitcoin climbing and giving a big lift to crypto assets across the market to start the day. The rise in bitcoin price triggered a wave of short liquidations overnight, which propelled crypto prices higher, said Clara Medalie, head of research at crypto data provider Kaiko.

“Over the past year, crypto markets have been desperately searching for a catalyst amid a sea of bad news, and the ETF news have been a welcome respite,” she said. “Should [an ETF approval] come, we may see another big surge, or we could be witnessing the extent of it right now. Ultimately, it is too early to tell if the rally has legs, but things look promising.”

However, with the exception of ether, prices across the crypto market retreated midday. Ryan Rasmussen, analyst at Bitwise Asset Management, noted that leverage and open interest ballooned on the sharp move towards $38,000 and then evaporated almost instantly on the pullback.

“That’s a reflection of traders on both sides — bulls and bears — getting whipsawed by the sharp price movements,” he said. “Any time leverage builds like that in either direction, it’s at risk of getting wiped out. I think it’s fair to expect more volatility as prices rise — bull markets don’t go up in a straight line.”

Bitcoin has seen $134.41 million in short liquidations over the past 24 hours, according to crypto data provider CoinGlass, and $41.12 million in long liquidations in the same period.

Other crypto assets rode the bitcoin price wave Thursday, also coming off their highs of the day. Solana, one of the biggest outperformers in crypto this year, added 2.69% after jumping 11% earlier. Most other tokens gave back earlier gains and ended the day flat.

Separately, FTT, the token tied to the now defunct FTX, spiked by 51% after SEC chair Gary Gensler told CNBC a revival of the exchange could work if new leadership does so with a clear understanding of the law.

In equities, shares of crypto services provider Coinbase and bitcoin proxy Microstrategy gained 5.1% and 4.1%, respectively. Among the bitcoin miners, Marathon Digital was up 8%, while Riot was flat. Both stocks gave back double digit gains.

—CNBC’s Jesse Pound contributed reporting.

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Correction: The price of bitcoin topped $37,000 for the first time since May 2022. An earlier version of this story misstated the time interval.