Ethereum’s 80% climb since early June is spurring investors to seek ways to tap the second-largest cryptocurrency’s momentum
Investing.com --Ethereum’s 80% climb since early June is spurring investors to seek ways to tap the second-largest cryptocurrency’s momentum, from new-look exchange-traded funds to public companies building on its network.
The token’s surge began after stablecoin issuer Circle started trading on June 5, revealing that most of the $65 billion USDC supply is minted on Ethereum or its so-called Layer 2 scaling chains.
That has sharpened focus on investment vehicles tied to the blockchain’s growth.
One route is through spot Ethereum ETFs, which hold the digital asset directly. BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) has proposed adding staking, the process of validating network transactions, to its iShares Ethereum Trust, potentially allowing investors to earn an on-chain yield of about 2.9%. Approval would mark the first time native blockchain economics are embedded into an ETF.
Another option is “Ethereum treasury companies,” which deploy capital to buy and hold ETH, sometimes using leverage, managing debt actively, and staking holdings to generate income.
These operate more like active fund managers, making performance heavily dependent on management skill.
Investors can also buy shares in firms embedded in Ethereum’s ecosystem. Bernstein sees Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) as the most aligned, running the high-volume Base chain and holding about $590 million in ETH.
A rise in Ethereum prices can lift Coinbase’s trading fees, staking income and revenue from ETH-settled transactions. Robinhood (NASDAQ:HOOD), which has launched ETH staking for U.S. users and plans its own Ethereum-based chain, is another beneficiary.
Bernstein expects recent ETH gains to feed through to stronger trading volumes in the second half, with Coinbase standing to gain the most from what it calls an “alt-rally” in digital assets.
Bernstein is an investment bank that publishes forecasts for the cryptocurrency market.