Ethereum Price Forecast: Why Treasury Stocks Outshine ETH ETFs (According to Standard Chartered)
Wall Street's latest crypto hot take just dropped—and it's throwing shade at ETH ETFs. Standard Chartered analysts argue traditional treasury companies offer 'better buys' than Ethereum's flashy new investment vehicles. Here's why the old guard might still have legs.
The ETF Letdown
While Ethereum ETFs promised mainstream adoption, institutional money seems to prefer boring old treasury plays. Maybe diversification sounds less exciting when gas fees are involved.
Institutional Deja Vu
Banks pushing clients toward conventional assets? Shocking. But with ETH's staking yields fluctuating like a meme coin, can you blame them? Sometimes 'web3 native' just means 'volatility guaranteed.'
The Bottom Line
Until ETH ETFs prove they're more than just a marketing gimmick for wealth managers, treasury stocks might keep stealing their lunch money. The more crypto changes, the more Wall Street stays the same.
ETH treasury companies are better buys than ETH ETFs: Standard Chartered
Ethereum treasury companies are proving to be a better investment opportunity compared to ETH ETFs as their net asset value (NAV) multiples have begun normalizing above 1, according to Standard Chartered's global head of digital asset research, Geoffrey Kendrick.
"Given NAV multiples are currently just above 1 I see the ETH treasury companies as a better asset to buy than the US spot ETH ETFs," he noted.
The net asset value of these companies represents their market capitalization divided by their total ETH holdings.
"This normalization of the net asset value multiple makes the treasury companies now very investable for investors seeking access to ETH price appreciation, increasing ETH per share [...] and access to staking rewards," wrote Kendrick. "I see no reason for the NAV multiple to go below 1.0 because I see these firms as providing regulatory arbitrage opportunities for investors."
Most ETH treasury companies generate yields through staking and deploying their funds across decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, unlike ETH ETFs in the United States, which do not offer these features.
Since gaining mainstream attention in June, Kendrick highlighted that ethereum treasury companies have purchased 1.6% of the entire ETH in circulation, equalling the buying power of their ETF counterparts during the period. Earlier in the week, BitMine Immersion (BMNR) and SharpLink Gaming (SBET) reported holdings of over 833,100 and 521,900 ETH, respectively.
Meanwhile, after two consecutive trading days of outflows, US spot Ethereum ETFs returned to inflows on Tuesday, pulling in $73.22 million, per SoSoValue data.
Ethereum Price Forecast: ETH could be forming another bullish pennant
Ethereum experienced $61.67 million in futures liquidations over the past 24 hours, according to Coinglass data. The total amount of long and short liquidations accounted for $21.20 and $40.47 million, respectively.
The top altcoin has largely been consolidating within the $3,400 and $3,800 range since July 21 after a two-week-long rally that spanned July 8-20. The consolidation could mark the formation of a bullish pennant if ETH continues trading above the $3,220 support, which is strengthened by the 50-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA).
ETH/USDT daily chart
The top altcoin could be primed to retest the resistance of a descending trendline NEAR $3,900 if it holds the support of a lower rising trendline extending from June 22. A flip of the descending trendline resistance and a subsequent move above the critical selling pressure near $4,100 will validate the continuation of a bullish pennant pattern.
The Relative Strength Index (RSI) and Stochastic Oscillator (Stoch) are struggling to find direction near their neutral levels, indicating indecision among market participants.
A daily candlestick below $2,850 will invalidate the bullish thesis.
