Ether (ETH) has seen a rapid price surge as it broke $3,000 for the first time in five months.
Look Beyond Bitcoin: Surging Ether Could be the Next Pin-up for Institutional Investors
11 July 2025 - 18:07 CEST
As at 09:40 UTC ETH was trading at $3,033 and may be further buoyed by traders’ excitement over Bitcoin’s all-time high this week. Equity indices are also trading close to record highs.
While Bitcoin’s rise past $118,000 has dominated headlines, ETH may now be catching the eye of the institutional capital that has fueled Bitcoin’s growth. Spot ETH ETFs (exchange-traded funds) are gaining traction, with over $500 million in inflows this month alone, according to Glassnode, a blockchain data and intelligence platform.
Smart Money
ETH may be evolving beyond its historical role as a secondary altcoin in the crypto world.
Bolstered by favourable macro-economic conditions, expanding institutional access via spot ETFs, and a strengthening use-case narrative around tokenization and settlement infrastructure, ETH could become increasingly viewed as a long-term strategic asset.
At the same time, corporate treasuries are beginning to diversify beyond BTC. Companies like Sharplink Gaming and Bitmine Immersion Technology have added ETH to their balance sheets.
"ETH has taken the lead in price momentum, rallying off recent lows amid a pickup in derivatives activity and growing enthusiasm around its broader role in settlement and tokenization infrastructure," said Joel Kruger, market strategist at LMAX Group, a financial technology firm in a statement to Coindesk.
Back to reality
The utility of ETH is growing. As infrastructure for settlement, tokenization and layer-2 scaling improves, Ethereum is cementing its role in the foundation of Web3 and beyond.
Its architecture is also uniquely suited for real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, a space gaining traction among banks, asset managers and sovereign institutions.
As more traditional assets like bonds, real estate and credit markets become represented on-chain, Ethereum’s programmable and compliant-friendly ecosystem could position it as a default settlement layer for tokenized finance.
