Since May 15, a surge in buying activity from exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and corporations has resulted in the acquisition of nearly 2.83 million ETH, valued at over $10 billion.
The trend reversal for Ethereum became evident in mid-May, when inflows into spot Ethereum ETFs gained momentum. According to Hougan, these investment vehicles have pulled in over $5 billion since then. Meanwhile, corporate entities have begun positioning ETH as a strategic asset within their treasuries.
SharpLink Gaming, for instance, has acquired more than 280,000 ETH, while Bitmine has amassed over 300,000 ETH. Bit Digital sold its Bitcoin reserves to acquire more than 100,000 ETH, signaling a shift in institutional preferences toward Ethereum.
The upward trajectory in demand appears likely to continue. Hougan notes that although ETH’s market capitalization is about 20% of Bitcoin’s, ETH ETFs still account for less than 12% of the assets under management held in Bitcoin ETFs.
Bitwise expects that gap to narrow as stablecoin growth and tokenization trends, both primarily supported by Ethereum, attract further capital inflows.
He projects that these entities could collectively purchase another $20 billion in ETH over the next year, which, given Ethereum’s estimated supply issuance of 800,000 ETH in that time, could represent nearly seven times more demand than new supply.
Though Ethereum does not share Bitcoin’s hard cap, Hougan emphasizes that short-term price action is largely dictated by supply and demand mechanics. Given the current imbalance, he believes the upward price movement could continue.
Whether or not this trend sustains over the long term, Ethereum’s near-term price action seems increasingly influenced by institutional behavior and treasury adoption strategies.
Featured image created with DALL-E, Chart from TradingView
