Ethereum's price has surged to its highest level in two months, surpassing $3900 shortly after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved 19b-4 filings for eight spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tied to the digital asset. This marks a strong week for Ethereum, which significantly outperformed the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, with ETH's value rising approximately 27%, compared to Bitcoin's modest 2% gain.

Many observers believe Ethereum's price could reach a new all-time high, similar to Bitcoin's 70% surge following the approval of its spot ETFs. The ETF approval underscores crypto's growing recognition as a viable financial asset class, likely leading to increased institutional adoption.

Michael Saylor, executive chairman of MicroStrategy, highlighted the ETF approval's legitimization of the crypto industry, predicting heightened institutional capital allocation. Meanwhile, Arthur Cheong, founder of DeFiance Capital, suggested ETH could potentially reach $4,500 before ETF trading begins, noting its underrepresentation in crypto portfolios.

Looking ahead, Ethereum's price momentum is expected to benefit from the upcoming Pectra upgrade, scheduled for early next year. This upgrade, succeeding the successful implementation of Dencun in March, aims to enhance the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) with the Ethereum Virtual Machine Object Format (EOF) and incorporates 11 improvement proposals. Notably, developers plan to replace the account abstraction EIP-3074 with EIP-7702, proposed by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, which allows Externally Owned Accounts (EOAs) to function as smart contract wallets during transactions, enhancing usability and security.