Ether (ETH) has outperformed bitcoin (BTC) over the past month, buoyed by strong inflows into spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and growing corporate treasury allocations, Wall Street bank JPMorgan (JPM) said in a report on Wednesday.
The move comes in the wake of U.S. stablecoin legislation (the GENIUS Act) and ahead of an anticipated vote on a broader crypto market structure bill by the end of September, the report said.
In July, spot ether ETFs saw record inflows of $5.4 billion, nearly matching bitcoin ETF inflows over the same period. While bitcoin ETFs have posted modest outflows in August, ether funds continue to attract capital, JPMorgan noted.
The bank’s analysts pointed to four main factors behind ether’s recent strength.
Investors are betting the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will eventually permit staking for spot ether ETFs, which would turn them into yield-generating products while lowering technical barriers for participation.
Corporate demand is also rising, the analysts noted, with about 10 publicly traded firms now holding ether equal to a total of 2.3% of the circulating supply. Some of these companies may seek additional income through staking or decentralized finance (DeFi) strategies.
At the same time, the SEC has signaled that liquid-staking tokens may not qualify as securities, easing institutional concerns, and its approval of in-kind redemptions for spot crypto ETFs is expected to reduce costs, improve liquidity and limit forced selling during large withdrawals.
JPMorgan suggested ether holdings in both ETFs and corporate treasuries could rise further, pointing to bitcoin’s higher share of circulating supply locked up across both categories as a benchmark.
Read more: Ether Resurgence Gains Steam Backed by Spot ETF Demand and On-Chain Growth: Citi