Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency, has now exceeded the market capitalization of payments giant Mastercard, with $440 billion versus $427 billion. This development followed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's change in stance towards the approval of spot Ethereum exchange-traded fund applications.

As detailed by analysts at Bloomberg, the likelihood of approval for Ethereum ETFs suddenly rose to 75% from the previous 25%, fueled by speculations of the SEC shifting its position. This adjustment was prompted by discussions implying a swift change in the SEC's approach. Prior to this, expectations were low for the approval of VanEck's ETF due to lack of engagement.

Eric Balchunas, a senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg, highlighted that the SEC has requested exchanges to promptly update their 19b-4 filings, potentially leading to an approval as soon as Wednesday.

Galaxy Digital's head of research, Alex Thorn, suggested that the SEC could differentiate Ethereum's underlying assets as non-securities and classify staked Ether as securities. This approach would align with past court cases and investigations, possibly paving the way for Ethereum ETF approvals while upholding previous SEC opinions.

Within the last 24 hours, Ethereum's price surged by 16.2%, according to CoinGecko's data. Bitcoin also saw a 6% increase, reaching a peak of $71,650 today. Despite this growth, ETH remains 25.4% below its all-time high of $4,878 reached two years ago.