Author: Zz, ChainCatcher Editor: TB, ChainCatcher
Ethereum is undergoing a profound capital restructuring.
Four forces are quietly converging: institutions enter the market through ETFs, banks begin to provide ETH trading services, listed companies use ETH as a reserve asset, and large investors continue to buy on the chain.
The era of speculation dominated by retail investors is coming to an end, and institutional-driven changes have begun.
Data source: RootData
Wall Street's attitude is undergoing a fundamental change.
SoSoValue data shows that last week, Bitcoin spot ETFs had a net inflow of 2.72 billion US dollars, with capital inflows for five consecutive weeks. This shows that traditional finance's perception of encrypted assets is changing. BlackRock Bitcoin ETF IBIT had a net inflow of $1.76 billion in a single week, and the historical cumulative net inflow has reached $55.2 billion.
Data source: CoinMarketCap
Ethereum's performance is even more eye-catching. On July 10 alone, the total net inflow of US Ethereum spot ETFs was $383 million, of which BlackRock ETHA contributed $300.9 million, followed by Fidelity. As of press time, the assets managed by all ETFs have reached $14.22 billion, accounting for 3.87% of the total market value of ETH. The historical cumulative net inflow has reached 5.757 billion US dollars.
Data source: SoSoValue
These ETH are locked in institutional cold wallets such as Coinbase Custody. Every ETF subscription requires the actual purchase of ETH in the spot market, forming a continuous buying pressure.
Bigger changes are still in the works. EMJ Capital analyst Eric Jackson pointed out that once ETH can be pledged in ETFs and generate income, conservative institutions such as pension funds and insurance companies will also be able to participate. The market expects that pledged ETFs will be approved by October 2025.
Traditional banks that were once cautious about cryptocurrencies are quietly turning around.
In July 2025, Standard Chartered Bank announced the launch of a digital asset trading platform for institutional clients. This is the world's first large bank to provide ETH physical trading to clients.
Institutional traders can now buy and sell ETH directly through a familiar foreign exchange trading interface and enjoy bank-level security. Standard Chartered Bank plans to launch Ethereum forward contracts, treating ETH as a mainstream asset on par with the US dollar and the euro.
A more dramatic signal comes from JPMorgan Chase. According to CNBC host Jim Cramer, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, who once called Bitcoin a "fraud," will now "fully embrace cryptocurrency." This change in attitude speaks louder than any data.
A group of listed companies began to use ETH as company reserves.
SharpLink Gaming (SBET) holds 280,706 ETH, of which 99.7% generate income in staking. ETH holdings increased by 23% in one month, and there are currently about $257 million in funds to continue purchasing Ethereum.
PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel acquired a 9.1% stake in BitMine Immersion Technologies. The company has transformed from mining to an ETH reserve company, holding 163,142 ETH, worth more than $500 million.
Traditional mining companies are also turning to ETH. Bit Digital exchanged all its Bitcoin reserves for Ethereum and now holds 100,603 ETH. BTC Digital has established a $1 million ETH reserve fund.
The stock prices of these companies are highly correlated with the price of ETH. From early to mid-July, when Ethereum rose by 22%, BitMine Immersion's stock price rose by more than 1,100%, and SharpLink Gaming rose by 180%.
On-chain data shows that large investors are continuing to buy.
Glassnode data shows that large investors holding at least 10,000 ETH have increased their holdings from 37.56 million to 41.06 million in the past nine months, an increase of 9.31%, and the concentration has reached a new high since 2020.
Specific trends tracked by Lookonchain:
Suspected Cumberland withdrew 34,883 ETH from Binance in one week, worth $89.5 million; a large account bought 20,300 ETH in 10 days, all of which were deposited in the DeFi protocol for long-term holding; another address withdrew 50,255 ETH from Binance in three weeks, worth $114 million.
Withdrawing from exchanges to cold wallets or DeFi, these behaviors show that large accounts are preparing for long-term holding.
Matrixport research shows that Ethereum's 18% increase in July was due to the approaching "Crypto Week" and policy expectations. Enterprise allocation and Circle's listing expectations have become the dominant forces. 17 percentage points of the increase came from the Asian trading session.
Wintermute founder and CEO Evgeny Gaevoy posted on July 17 that there is almost no ETH available for sale on its OTC trading platform
It is worth noting that when BlackRock ETF When funds flow in, you can see institutional addresses withdrawing large amounts of ETH from exchanges at the same time on the chain. The behavior of institutions and large users is highly consistent.
Vitalik Buterin said in an interview with CNBC in Cannes: "People think that institutions only care about scale and speed. On the contrary, many institutions directly told us that they value Ethereum's stability and reliability, as well as its record of no downtime in nearly a decade."
What's more: Ethereum is the core of the $230 billion stablecoin market. The higher the price of ETH, the more secure the network. Every expansion of the on-chain dollar scale requires more ETH to be purchased and pledged.
Regulation is also becoming clearer. The GENIUS Act will establish a federal regulatory framework for stablecoins, and the CLARITY Act clarifies the division of regulatory labor. Every time the policy becomes clear, it is an invitation for institutions to enter the market.
Four buying forces are working together: institutions continue to buy through ETFs, banks incorporate ETH into their service systems, listed companies use ETH as a reserve asset, and large investors hoard it in large quantities on the chain.
These forces promote each other: the compliance of ETFs encourages corporate allocation, and the active adoption of enterprises drives banks to improve their services. All positive signals are verified on the chain.
Ethereum is transforming from an experimental platform to financial infrastructure. At the current price of $3,200, the market is re-pricing this long-term trend.
When traditional finance begins to turn, inertia is often stronger than expected.
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