Institutional staking boom: As of July 2025, 21.7 % of ETH’s supply is locked in staking—up from under 5 % just two years ago—generating 4–6 % annualized yields and cementing ETH’s role as “programmable ultrasound money” for institutions .
ETF and yield catalysts: The SEC is actively reviewing proposals to allow staking yield within spot ETH ETFs, a move experts say “flips the switch on demand” and could drive massive institutional inflows once approved .
Deflationary supply dynamics: Post-Merge fee burning has made ETH net-deflationary—shrinking supply at ~0.29 %/year—further underpinning price over the long term .