Fidelity Recognizes ETH as Store of Value, Price Jumps 2.8%

Ethereum [ETH] has garnered significant attention from Wall Street, with asset management firm Fidelity now recognizing ETH as a store of value (SoV) and a means of wealth preservation. In its latest report, Fidelity stated that ETH is used to pay for any transaction on the Ethereum blockchain, regardless of the type of transaction, and can serve as both a medium of exchange and a store of value. The firm also highlighted that ETH is the most actively traded asset on exchanges and acts as the primary asset to borrow against.

This update has been viewed as a vote of confidence in ETH, especially after the altcoin suffered a massive market disconnect and divergence from BTC in 2024. At that time, ETH was under intense pressure for not being a SoV like BTC and dropped nearly 70% against BTC, lagging behind even Solana [SOL]. The Fidelity report was welcomed by pro-ETH members, with Sassal, an Ethereum educator, terming it ‘bullish’ and stating that ETH is undervalued.

Following the Fidelity update, ETH sentiment climbed to the ‘greed’ level and pumped 2.8% to $2.6K. The growing positive sentiment has triggered ETH to flip BTC in daily trading volume and speculative interest. Notably, ETH’s Open Interest (OI) rate jumped 7% against BTC’s -0.18%, underscoring the massive demand for ETH on the Futures market. Over the same period, the derivatives trading volume surged to $59 billion, about $3 billion more than BTC.

If the trend continues, ETH could outperform BTC in the near term, in terms of investor returns. The market skew for end-quarter 3 (Q3) was bullish with a Put/Call Ratio of 0.44, underscoring a premium for calls (bullish bets) over puts (bearish bets). Most of the bullish targets were at $2.8K and $3.2K with a max pain (potential floor price, where options contracts expire worthless) around $2K. Overall, ETH could still be subdued below $3K in Q3, but options traders were still betting for a potential breakout.