Standard Chartered says ETH treasury stocks may outperform ETFs due to staking rewards and faster ETH purchases.

Standard Chartered says ETH treasury stocks may outperform ETFs due to staking rewards and faster ETH purchases.

Ethereum's treasury companies are emerging as a compelling alternative to traditional ETFs, according to a recent report by Standard Chartered. The bank's analysis suggests that these treasury firms offer significant advantages over U.S.-listed spot Ethereum ETFs, particularly in terms of staking rewards and faster ETH purchases.

Geoffrey Kendrick, Head of FX and Digital Assets Research at Standard Chartered, noted that Ethereum buying by publicly listed treasury firms has now matched that of spot ETFs since June 1, with both groups acquiring approximately 1.6% of the total ETH in circulation [1]. This parity in net buying volumes underscores a shift in investor strategy, especially among those seeking more dynamic exposure than a passive ETF provides.

Kendrick highlighted that treasury firms are now "more investable" than ETFs, citing their additional yield potential, including staking rewards and DeFi strategies. The NAV multiple for treasury firms has normalized, with SharpLink Gaming (SBET), backed by Consensys and Ethereum co-founder Joe Lubin, having an NAV multiple of just above 1 [2]. This suggests that these firms are fairly priced, if not undervalued, and offer better access to ether price appreciation, staking rewards, and ETH-per-share growth compared to U.S. spot ETH ETFs.

The rise of Ethereum treasury firms mirrors the earlier trend seen with Bitcoin, where companies like Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) led a wave of corporate BTC buying. However, Ethereum treasury holdings are expected to grow faster due to greater institutional acceptance of crypto as a corporate reserve asset and ETH's ability to generate yield [3].

Tom Lee, the chair of the world's largest ETH treasury, BitMine, and FundStrat’s CEO, made a bold prediction that ETH could hit $16K by 2025, citing the potential for ETH to become a better storage of value than it was in 2021 [2]. This prediction underscores the growing confidence in the altcoin's future prospects.

The cumulative ETH held by public companies has soared from 47K ETH to 826K ETH — an 18x growth in less than three months, indicating strong institutional interest in the asset [2]. This trend is likely to continue, setting a new benchmark for the future of corporate treasury management.

References:
[1] https://www.benzinga.com/crypto/cryptocurrency/25/08/46913842/how-ethereum-treasury-companies-beat-out-etfs-standard-chartered
[2] https://ambcrypto.com/standard-chartered-why-ethereum-treasury-firms-are-better-than-eth-etfs/
[3] https://www.theblock.co/post/365832/standard-chartered-ethereum-treasury-firms-very-investable-spot-eth-etfs?utm_medium=rss&utm_source=news.xml