Turnover in Ether (ETH) is about twice the rate of Bitcoin, which tends to be more dormant as a store of value or “digital gold”, according to a new study on the difference in usage of the two leading cryptocurrencies.
Gold vs Oil: Bitcoin Hoarded while Ethereum flows, Report Says
17 November 2025 - 18:33 CET
By Giles Broom
More than 61% of supply of Bitcoin has not moved in over a year, and daily turnover is at 0.61%, broadly in line with its 2025 YTD average of ~0.56%/day, according to a report by Glassnode and Keyrock. The relatively steady turnover is “reinforcing Bitcoin’s role as the market’s dominant store of value,” the report adds.
Ether seen as oil
Ether’s turnover stands at ~1.34% of free float per day, up from a peak of ~1.68% per day in 2025, the report says. Across the five-year analysis window, ETH is consistently higher than BTC but orders of magnitude below fiat-money turnover, it notes.
“Through this lens, ETH can be thought of as digital oil, the network’s fuel and settlement collateral that’s stockpiled, staked and consumed as blockspace is used,” the report said.
Bitcoin as gold
In comparison, BTC plays the role of “digital gold”, with users treating it as a long-term asset. The report notes that average coin dormancy for BTC has doubled over the past five years, despite temporary spikes driven by isolated legacy wallet movements.
Ether is also considered a store of value, but its use for DeFi has made it more mobile. “Ethereum powers the DeFi ecosystem,” the authors of the report say, pointing out that around 16% of ETH supply is now deployed within liquid staking, and collateralized structures.
Supply dip
What the two cryptocurrencies have in common is a dip in supply as tokens shift into exchange products, institutional wrappers and long-term custody, including exchange-traded funds and digital asset treasury, or DAT, companies. Exchange-linked BTC balances have declined by ~1.5%, while ETH’s exchange share has fallen sharply – from ~29% to ~11.3%.
Bitcoin ETFs now hold ~6.7% of supply, with DAT structures accounting for ~3.6%. For ETH, ETFs hold ~5.2% and DATs ~4.9%.
“This shift reallocates supply out of highly liquid venues and into structures with slower mobilization, narrowing effective float. For Bitcoin, this supports its low-turnover, savings-asset profile. For Ethereum, it complements its role as productive collateral,” the report says.
Not interchangeable
The implications from the usage pattern divergence suggest that portfolios should treat the two cryptocurrencies as “distinct exposure buckets” rather than as interchangeable crypto risks. “One is reserve-grade, the other is hybrid-growth,” the report says.
