Written by: imToken
Ethereum stands at an unprecedented "multi-narrative resonance" node.
On the on-chain level, the scale of ETH staking continues to rise, gradually establishing a "risk-free interest rate anchor point"; on the traditional finance level, the spot ETF has been running for over a year, with trading volume and net inflows rapidly increasing, marking ongoing increases in compliant funds; on the corporate level, more and more U.S. listed companies are strategically choosing to include ETH in their treasury reserves.
Staking, ETFs, and corporate treasury - these three seemingly independent threads are resonating with each other, jointly propelling ETH from a singular cryptocurrency to a comprehensive financial asset with income attributes, compliance channels, and corporate reserve value.
If Bitcoin's story is "digital gold," then Ethereum's narrative is quietly shifting towards "global ledger," with a key "resonance moment" anticipated in 2025.
01 Staking steadily rises, revealing ETH's "benchmark interest rate."
Since the Shanghai upgrade in April 2023 opened up the staking withdrawal function, Ethereum has completely resolved the risk of a dam-like exit, unleashing the growth potential of the staking ecosystem. Subsequently, the derivatives market based on LSD has rapidly expanded, driving ETH staking rates continually higher.
As of the time of writing, the amount of ETH staked has surpassed 33.8 million, amounting to approximately $140 billion at current prices, accounting for over 25% of the total supply. This is a significant increase from about 10% staking rates a few years ago, which not only enhances network security but also increases ETH's scarcity from a supply-demand perspective.
More importantly, ETH staking is gradually becoming the "interest rate anchor point" for on-chain finance.
Over the past year, an annualized staking return rate of 3%-5% has been widely accepted by the market, and some institutional research reports even regard it as the "on-chain version of government bond yields," forming an implicit comparative relationship with the U.S. Treasury yield curve. This attribute has transformed ETH from merely a trading asset into one that possesses the underlying logic of fixed-income products.
Of course, a noteworthy reverse trend has emerged recently - since July 16, requests for ETH unstaking have surged, with validator exit requests skyrocketing from less than 2,000 to 475,000 on July 22, and waiting times extending from under an hour to over 8 days.
According to data from The Block, there are currently about 670,000 ETH (approximately $3.1 billion) in the exit queue, far exceeding new staking demand, with an expected processing time nearing 12 days. The main reasons driving large amounts of ETH unstaking include the unwinding of leveraged staking cycles against a backdrop of rising prices, LST de-pegging risks, and arbitrage opportunities. Thus, Lido, EthFi, and Coinbase are the main sources of exits.
Source: The Block
However, despite the volatility brought about by the wave of unstaking in the short term, from a long-term perspective, ETH staking has gradually become the "risk-free rate anchor point" on-chain, becoming one of the underlying financial logics of ETH.
Notably, U.S. Treasury yields are expected to remain in the 4%-5% range in 2024, which made ETH staking rates temporarily appear unattractive. However, as the Federal Reserve begins its interest rate cut path in 2025, ETH's 3%-5% staking returns regain competitiveness, and are even viewed as "excess returns" in some risk models.
This means that a deeper implicit connection is being established between ETH's on-chain interest rates and the global liquidity environment, especially as re-staking protocols like EigenLayer have absorbed over ten billion dollars' worth of ETH, giving rise to a chain logic of "staking interest rate → re-staking premium → protocol security."
In other words, ETH is not only an asset in itself but is also gradually becoming the underlying collateral of the Web3 financial system.
02 ETFs are becoming the main channel for traditional funds.
In May 2024, the U.S. SEC approved the 19b-4 application for 8 Ethereum spot ETFs, which officially began trading on July 23, marking the formal compliance channel between ETH and Wall Street. To date, Ethereum spot ETFs have been operational for over a year.
Objectively speaking, ETFs, as a "compliance entry point," provide traditional institutions with direct channels to allocate ETH, reducing compliance friction on financial and auditing levels. According to SoSoValue data, as of now, the total net asset value of U.S. Ethereum spot ETFs has exceeded $27 billion, accounting for approximately 5.34% of Ethereum's market capitalization. Since their launch, cumulative net inflows have reached $12.4 billion.
It is just that the market often overestimates the short-term effects of new things while underestimating their long-term impact; the development of ETH spot ETFs is a microcosm of this rule because the true explosion of ETFs does not manifest from the beginning - before May of this year, the daily trading volume of ETH ETFs remained relatively low, with limited market interest.
Source: SoSoValue
The turning point occurred on August 11, 2025, when the net inflow into Ethereum ETFs broke the billion-dollar mark for the first time in a single day, with BlackRock's ETHA attracting $640 million and Fidelity's FETH attracting $277 million. The siphoning effect of these two giants highlights the institutional shift of Ethereum ETFs.
The significance of ETFs is that they are not only a "channel" for funds but also a "legitimate status" on compliance audits and financial statements, greatly reducing the barriers for institutions to hold ETH. Another profound significance is that it opens up arbitrage and allocation paths for cross-border financial institutions.
More importantly, the concentration of ETF holdings has already begun to show, with BlackRock and Fidelity's two ETFs accounting for two-thirds of the U.S. ETH ETF market. This trend towards centralization not only brings about a siphoning effect of funds but may also mean that ETH's "institutional pricing" characteristics will become increasingly apparent in the future.
03 ETH is rapidly flowing into U.S. stock balance sheets.
If MicroStrategy's relationship with BTC is a milestone case of a public company incorporating crypto assets into its balance sheet, then starting in 2025, ETH is also welcoming a similar turning point.
An increasing number of U.S. companies are choosing to include ETH in their treasury, and it is not merely a symbolic holding, but rather a large-scale, strategic allocation.
Taking BitMine as an example, according to official disclosures, its crypto asset holdings have exceeded $6.612 billion, an increase of approximately $1.7 billion compared to the previous week's $4.9 billion, with BitMine holding 1.523 million ETH (valued at approximately $4,326 each at current prices), and also holding 192 BTC.
Source: BitMine
At the same time, Nasdaq-listed company Cosmos Health announced an agreement with a U.S. institutional investor to purchase up to $300 million in securities to initiate an ETH treasury strategy, and to provide custody and staking infrastructure through BitGo Trust.
This proactive trend of incorporating into the treasury differs from the passive allocation of ETFs: ETFs mainly carry the exposure demand of financial products, while companies directly purchase ETH and include it in their treasury, indicating that ETH is becoming a real settlement medium and reserve asset. Whether for financial diversification, cross-border payments, or employee incentives and research and development incentives, ETH is beginning to showcase its potential as a "liquid asset."
Overall, after experiencing the previous wave of widespread pessimism, Ethereum's multiple narratives are beginning to form synergy:
Staking returns have brought ETH a "government bond-like" interest rate anchor;
ETFs have opened channels for compliant fund allocation;
Corporate treasuries have further endowed ETH with real value for reserves and payments;
The interweaving of the three is jointly propelling ETH from a "crypto token" to a "financial infrastructure asset."
If Bitcoin represents "digital gold" in corporate treasuries, then Ethereum's value narrative is gradually pointing towards "the liquidity core of the global ledger."
