On July 2 (Wednesday), stocks linked to Ethereum (ETH) collectively strengthened, reflecting a sustained increase in market interest in this cryptocurrency asset driven by the wave of stablecoins and asset tokenization.
Mining company transformation ignites stock prices
Bitcoin mining company Bit Mine Immersion Technologies announced this week that it will include ETH in its main treasury reserves, resulting in a single-day stock price surge of 20%, with a cumulative increase of over 1000% since the announcement. The gaming platform Sharp Link Gaming also rose 11% on the same day due to the initiation of its ETH reserve strategy. Previously, Bit Digital announced its exit from Bitcoin mining to focus on ETH staking, with its stock price rising 6% on that day.
Institutions are optimistic about ecological development
Devin Ryan, Head of Financial Technology Research at Citizens, pointed out: "Ethereum is entering a period of explosive real applications, and stablecoins are just the beginning. In the future, asset tokenization will open up broader digital asset application scenarios."
Capital flow is currently diverging
On Tuesday, as Bitcoin ETF inflows were interrupted, the ETH ETF gained a net inflow of $40 million against the trend, with BlackRock's iShares Ethereum Trust contributing the main increment. Coin Metrics data shows that ETH rose 5% on that day, but is still down 24% year-to-date.
Ecological advantages are becoming prominent
As a pioneer of smart contracts, Ethereum has become the core platform for asset tokenization: the two major stablecoins, USDT and USDC, are both issued based on Ethereum; BlackRock's BUIDL fund prefers Ethereum for tokenization; Fundstrat evaluates it as "the architectural cornerstone of stablecoins";
Industry dynamics drive enthusiasm, with the latest upward momentum also coming from:
1. Robinhood announces the launch of tokenized US stock trading in Europe
2.6 June Circle's listing and the passage of the GENIUS Act stimulated stablecoin demand
3. At the end of July, Ethereum will celebrate its 10th anniversary
Despite facing competition from Solana, weak network income, and a price drop of 75% from historical highs, the wave of tokenization is injecting new development momentum into Ethereum.
The rise of Ethereum
The rise of ETH, apart from demand and intrinsic value, has another variable in the cryptocurrency market, which is the market makers. We can see that in some meme coins, even though consensus is poorer, they still rise stronger, like the goat of the AI era, which is indeed top-tier. As a result, wild market makers (institutions) picked up a zeroed-out second-tier coin, and after collecting enough chips, they made it rise to attract people. For example, after ORDI started rising, a bunch of big institutions and big players quickly jumped into sats, with a lot more to follow.
In the meme space, there haven't been many opportunities in the past six months, and the predictions of some big players are intertwined with conspiracy theories, lacking supporting evidence, and hidden positions make everything seem dull. Retail investors are not willing to buy much ETH currently, and if institutions still have a large amount of tokens they want to offload, it will be very difficult to boost trading volume and create momentum without doing so. If someone wants to sell 10 billion, using 500 million as the principal to create momentum and pull up the price might be possible, pulling while selling. It's a game between trusting capital and trapped capital.
In the cryptocurrency space, "an unprecedented upheaval is underway," and ETH may be the last heartbeat of the old era.
