The Ethereum price is up today, rising 2.5% over the last 24 hours to trade at $3,541. Ether’s performance on June 19 is fueled by the news that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had dropped its investigations into Ethereum.

In a June 18 post on X Consensys, a blockchain software company said that the SEC will be shutting down its investigations, which is “huge for the space.

“The Enforcement Division of the SEC has notified us that it is closing its investigation into Ethereum 2.0,” the company said in part of the post, adding, “This means that the SEC will not bring charges alleging that sales of ETH are securities transactions.” 

Ether jumped around 1.4% to $3,541 just a few minutes after the news — reclaiming its key and closely watched $3,500 level. The $3,500 level has been crucial for ETH, as the price has frequently moved above and below the mark. It has been a key support level over the past 30 days.

Will Ether price hold above $3,500

At the time of writing, $3,500 acted as immediate support for the price. A daily candlestick close below this level would be detrimental for the bulls, with the price dropping lower to fill the fair value gap below it. The first line of defense will emerge from $3,200 and from the $3,000 demand zone.

Such a move would represent a 13% decline from the current price.

On the upside, bulls were required to aggressively defend the support at $3,500 to sustain the uptrend. Data from IntoTheBlock’s In/Out of the Money Around Price (IOMAP) model reveals that there is buyer congestion around this level, providing robust support for ETH.

Around 2.89 addresses previously bought approximately 2.46 million ETH around the spot price.

As such, increased buying from this cohort of investors could send Ether higher to tag the $3,650 resistance level and later the $4,000 psychological level.

The upward movement of the relative strength index (RSI) away from the overbought region supported this optimistic outlook.