Surrounding this Ethereum version of the 'MicroStrategy Summer' craze, can ETH really replicate the 'positive flywheel' of the BTC micro strategy? Here are some personal viewpoints:
1) The ETH micro strategy is indeed modeled after the successful example of the BTC micro strategy, and in the short term, many US stock companies will try to FOMO, forming a wave of positive flywheel. Regardless of how the operators of the US stock market conduct themselves, the real money and buying power of traditional institutional funds and retail investors using ETH as a reserve asset has significantly pulled Ethereum out of its long-term weak state.
In other words, FOMO driving up prices is an unchanging rule in the crypto bull market, but this time the subject of FOMO is no longer pure retail investors from the crypto circle, but real money from Wall Street. At least it verifies that ETH has finally escaped the predicament of purely relying on the stacking narrative of the crypto circle and is beginning to attract incremental funds from outside the circle.
2) BTC is more aligned with the positioning of a reserve asset as 'digital gold', with relatively stable value and clear expectations, while ETH is essentially a 'productive asset', its value tied to multiple factors including the usage rate of the Ethereum network, Gas fee income, and ecological development. This means that ETH as a reserve asset has greater volatility and uncertainty.
If the Ethereum ecosystem encounters significant technical security issues or if regulators apply pressure on DeFi, staking, and other functions, the risks and volatility variables faced by ETH as a reserve asset could be much larger than those of BTC. Therefore, while the narrative logic of the BTC version of the micro strategy can be referenced, it does not mean that the market pricing and valuation logic can remain consistent.
3) The Ethereum ecosystem, compared to BTC, has a more mature DeFi infra accumulation and richer narrative extensibility. Through the staking mechanism, ETH can generate an approximate 3-4% native yield, making it equivalent to 'on-chain yield treasury bonds' in the crypto world.
Institutional buy-in on this story may seem like a short-term negative for the initial construction of BTC layer 2 and various infra to provide native asset yields for BTC, but in the long term, it’s quite the opposite. Once ETH plays a greater catalytic role as a programmable yield asset in the ETH micro strategy, it may actually stimulate faster development of the BTC ecosystem to fill in the basic infra.
4) This round of MicroStrategy Summer is essentially a major reshuffle of the narrative direction of crypto's past. Previously, project parties built projects and spread technical narratives to VC and retail investors, which were essentially aimed at crypto natives. Now, this new narrative, whether it’s RWA or TradiFi, will likely need to tell stories to Wall Street.
The key difference is that Wall Street does not buy into pure concepts; they want PMF—real user growth, revenue models, market size, etc. This forces crypto projects to shift from 'technology narrative-driven' to 'business value-driven', isn’t that the pressure Solana put on Ethereum? Ultimately, it must be faced.
5) The US stock micro strategy concept operators this round, including SharpLink Gaming, Bitmine immersion Tech, Bit Digital, BTCS inc., are mostly companies that are struggling with growth in traditional capital market businesses and need to integrate crypto to find new breakthroughs. They choose to go all-in on crypto assets often because their main business lacks growth points, forcing them to seek new value growth engines.
The reason these market operators dare to be so aggressive is largely due to taking advantage of the 'arbitrage window' before the regulatory mechanisms for the crypto industry are fully matured, driven by the US government's bold push for crypto industry reform. In the short term, they have exploited many legal and compliance loopholes—such as the ambiguity in accounting standards for classifying crypto assets, the leniency of SEC disclosure requirements, and the gray areas of tax treatment.
The success of MicroStrategy largely benefited from the super bull market of BTC, but as a replicator, it may not have the same luck and operational ability. Therefore, the market heat brought by these operators is not much different from the previous pure crypto native narrative hype; essentially, it’s still a gamble and trial-and-error, always be cautious of investment risks.
Note: This round of MicroStrategy Summer is more like a 'big drill' for crypto to enter the mainstream financial system. If successful, everyone is happy; if it fails, it’s a small joy (after all, any experiment that can drag ETH out of the narrative quagmire is a success, regardless of the outcome!).
If you like my sharing, remember to follow me and join my chat room for discussions!
