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The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has delayed its decision to approve or reject BlackRock and Fidelitys spot Ether ETHUSD exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

In separate March 4 filings, the SEC announced that its decision on applications from BlackRock for its iShares Ethereum Trust and Fidelity for its Ethereum Fund will be delayed.

The SEC first delayed its decision on BlackRocks and Fiedlitys Ether ETF applications in January, shortly after it approved a roster of spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs to go live. The SEC can delay its decision up to three times before making a final decision.

The SECs delay hasnt come as a surprise, with market commentators and ETF analysts long speculating that the SEC will only decide to approve or deny the ETFs once the first final deadline arrives in May.

In an earlier Feb. 7 post to X, Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart said that May 23 the final deadline for VanEcks spot ETH ETF application is the only date that matters when it comes to Ethereum ETFs.

Meanwhile, the price of Ether has continued to be spurred by wider market enthusiasm for potential approval, posting gains of 56.7% in the last month. It was not impacted by todays SEC delay decision.

At the time of publication, ETH is changing hands for $3,754, up 13% for the week per CoinGecko data.

Not everyone is confident, however, that a spot Ether ETF will be as significant as the spot Bitcoin ETFs with BlackRocks iShares Bitcoin ETF already notching a staggering $10 billion in assets under management alone.

Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Blachunas said that he and his colleague Seyffart would have formal odds on an ETH ETF approval out soon, however described the yet-to-be-approved funds as small potatoes compared to the Bitcoin funds.

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SEC pushes back BlackRock, Fidelity spot Ethereum ETF proposals - TradingView

These digital assets are rallying hard right now as investors pile back into crypto

Cryptocurrencies areback in a big way, and now is a good time to look for cryptos with growth potential. After enduring a brutal downturn throughout 2022, digital coins and tokens rallied hard last fall and that momentum has carried into the new year. So far in 2024, the largest cryptocurrencies are up more than 40% each, outpacing the 8% year-to-date gain in the benchmarkS&P 500index and the 10% increase in the technology-ladenNasdaqindex. With many of the leading cryptos approaching their all-time highs, analysts have been revising their price predictions whileprominent investorscontinue to load up on digital assets. Many market observers expect the outperformance in crypto to carry on, fueled bymultiple catalyststhat are coming in the near term. Here are three cryptos with tenfold growth potential by 2026.

Source: shutterstock.com/BT Side

The price ofEthereum(ETH-USD) has risen 50% in the last month and is nearing $3,500. ETH is currently at its highest level since April 2022. The current rally has been sparked by excitement related to the upcoming approval of spotEthereum exchange-traded funds(ETFs). Ethereums surge since the start of February has outpaced all other cryptocurrencies, includingBitcoin(BTC-USD), according to market data. Over the past 12 months, Ethereums price has more than doubled, rising 120%.

The price of Ethereum has been climbing on expectations that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will approve spot Ethereum ETFs by this summer. The Wall Street regulator approved spot Bitcoin ETFs for the American market in January and now faces a deadline at the end of May to approve similar Ethereum ETFs. Analysts see ETF approval asa major potential catalystfor Ethereum as it would allow people and institutions to invest in the crypto without having to physically own the tokens.

Source: Sittipong Phokawattana / Shutterstock.com

Speaking of Bitcoin, the new crop of spot ETFs has attracted massive amounts of capital in a little more than a month since their approval, with some funds seeing inflows of more than $2 billion. After a brief dip immediately after the SEC approved the spot ETFs in January, the price of BTC has been surging as well, having risen 45% in the past month. At $62,000, Bitcoin is closing in on its all-time high of just below $69,000 reached in November 2021. Many analysts see theprice topping $100,000by years end.

While the ETFs have served as a big catalyst for Bitcoin, the largest crypto by market cap has another upcoming catalyst in the form ofa halving eventthats scheduled to take place this April. A halving event occurs every four years, with the rewards for mining Bitcoin literally cut in half. Past halving events have led to big jumps in the price of BTC, and crypto bulls are expecting another huge rally this spring. Since bottoming under $16,500 in December 2022, Bitcoins price has nearly quadrupled.

Source: Postmodern Studio / Shutterstock.com

For a crypto that has outpaced both Bitcoin and Ethereum over the past year, look toSolana(SOL-USD). The smaller digital token has seen itsprice rise more than 500%in the last 12 months to trade at $129, its highest level since April 2022. In the past month, the price of SOL has gained 32% and shows no signs of slowing down. Sharing many of the same characteristics as Ethereum, Solana is one of the more practical cryptos to own as it has real utility and helps to facilitate decentralized finance (DeFi) transactions.

However, many crypto bulls prefer Solana over ETH and claim that it is the superior cryptocurrency given that it can execute much larger DeFi transactions at much faster speeds than Ethereum. SOL can process 50,000 DeFi transactions per second compared to 13 transactions per second that can be processed by Ethereum. Investors also continue to expect big things from Solana Pay, a direct transaction between merchants and consumers that charges zero fees.

On the date of publication, Joel Baglole did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.

Joel Baglole has been a business journalist for 20 years. He spent five years as a staff reporter at The Wall Street Journal, and has also written for The Washington Post and Toronto Star newspapers, as well as financial websites such as The Motley Fool and Investopedia.

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3 Cryptos With Tenfold Growth Potential by 2026 - InvestorPlace

Ethereum (ETH), the worlds second-largest cryptocurrency, has made a remarkable comeback, reaching $3.9k for the first time in over a year. However, the celebrations are tempered by skyrocketing transaction fees (also known as gas fees) that are causing significant disruptions across the Ethereum network.

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The altcoins impressive rally echoes the recent bullish trend in the broader cryptocurrency market, particularly with Bitcoin also approaching and finally reaching its all-time high. Unfortunately, the surge in ETHs value has been paralleled by a dramatic increase in gas fees, which recently exceeded 174 gwei.

In case you didnt know, exorbitant gas fees can significantly impact activity on the Ethereum network. In fact, NFT transactions can become prohibitively expensive, with average costs possibly exceeding $372. Token swaps and borrowing transactions are similarly burdened with high fees, often exceeding $200 each.

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The gas fee surge is likely is fueled by increased network congestion as investors and traders participate in the ongoing ETH rally. The popularity of NFTs and DeFi protocols built on Ethereum contributes to the high demand for transaction processing. These high fees could deter some users, potentially hindering adoption and innovation within the Ethereum ecosystem.

Analysts have offered varying price targets for Ethereum in 2024. The most bullish of them have indicated that its possible for ETH to make it up to as high as $10,000, while others have said that simply reaching the previous ATH price would be an incredible feat.

Continued institutional interest and the upcoming Dencun upgrade could drive further price gains, but the persistence of high gas fees will remain a potential obstacle thats worth keeping an eye on.

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Ethereum Gas Fees Skyrocket as Price Tops $3,900 - Bitcoinsensus

It's been a wild and wacky few days in the cryptocurrency world. Megacap tokens are seeing continued volatility, with Bitcoin (BTC 8.12%), Ethereum (ETH 12.64%) and Dogecoin (DOGE 13.83%) still up materially from yesterday's close (4 p.m. ET). These three tokens rose 2.8%, 3.8%, and 12.9%, respectively, over this time frame, as of 1:45 p.m. ET.

Now, these increases are markedly lower than the previous increases these tokens saw during yesterday's session. Bitcoin, largely viewed as the benchmark for the entire sector, surged to a multiyear high of more than $63,000 per token yesterday, before giving up a good chunk of these gains. Currently, Bitcoin continues to hover around the $60,500 level, still substantially higher than the $45,000 level the token started the year at and the sub-$20,000 level investors saw late last year.

Let's dive into what's driving this positive price momentum among these three megacap tokens today.

Bitcoin's run toward its record price (nearly $69,000 per token in late 2021) has been remarkable. Initial interest around the world's largest cryptocurrency following the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs by the Securities and Exchange Commission gave way to selling pressure, due to a range of factors, including FTX's liquidation of assets in a bid to make investors whole. However, a turn of events has materialized, with capital flows into spot Bitcoin ETFs surging more than $7 billion over the past two months, as institutional investors jump on digital assets in a manner reminiscent of the previous bull market rally.

Investors banking on a supply/demand dislocation in terms of Bitcoin have been proven right, with momentum driving additional interest in leveraged products such as perpetual contracts, which traders and speculators can use to bet on short-term spikes in a token's price. Notably, the funding rate for Bitcoin perpetual futures hit the highest level since the last bull market peak in 2021. This signals there's plenty of speculative capital being put to work, in addition to the billions of dollars of institutional capital flowing into Bitcoin alone.

For even more speculative assets such as Dogecoin, these sorts of trends are very bullish, and are a key reason why we're seeing even greater moves in meme tokens. Dogecoin's price action has largely depended on broader sentiment in this sector. And with Bitcoin remaining the benchmark asset others are valued against, a rising tide appears to be lifting all boats.

Additionally, speculation around when spot Ethereum ETFs could be introduced is building. If the wave of capital hitting Bitcoin flows into Ethereum as well, investors could be due for big upside. Accordingly, the market is doing what it does best, and discounting these potential catalysts ahead of time, with Ethereum getting to multiyear highs on this sector-wide momentum as well.

If many investors were asked yesterday if Bitcoin were to hit an all-time high this year, the answer would likely have been a resounding yes. And given the fact that the world's largest crypto is now within 15% of its all-time high, there's certainly something to this thesis. I wouldn't be surprised if this period of consolidation we're seeing today gives way to another rally in the coming days or weeks that takes Bitcoin and its megacap counterparts near, or above, all-time highs.

Long-term investors who have stuck with megacap tokens through the 2022 and 2023 bear market period have been rewarded. Now, the question is how much profit-taking will take place at current levels, and whether institutional capital flows and speculative activity can be enough to push these tokens over the top. Certainly, these are three tokens every investor needs to watch closely right now.

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Why Bitcoin, Ethereum and Dogecoin Are Trending Higher Today - The Motley Fool