Standard Chartered: Why Ethereum treasury firms are better than ETH ETFs
Tom Lee said that ETH will have more storage of value in 2025 than in 2021, and could hit $16K.
Key Takeaways
Standard Chartered stated that the treasury stocks were ‘investable’ and better than ETH ETFs, citing staking yield opportunities. Tom Lee’s bold prediction was that ETH could tag $9K-$16K.
The Ethereum [ETH] treasury trend continues to win the confidence of institutional players.
In its latest note to clients, Standard Chartered’s global head of digital assets research, Geoff Kendrick, said that treasury firms are ‘more investable’ now than ETFs, citing their additional yield potential.
Treasury firms also engage in staking, which currently offers 3% in annual rewards and other DeFi yield strategies. However, ETH ETFs are currently passive players, unless staking is approved later on.
In fact, Kendrick highlighted that treasury firms now own 1.6% of the ETH supply, similar to ETH ETF products, since June.
However, the bank maintained a $4K price target for the altcoin by the end of the year.
Tom Lee: ETH is having its BTC 2017 moment
Tom Lee, the chair of the world’s largest ETH treasury, BitMine, and FundStrat’s CEO, made a bold price prediction for the altcoin.
In a recent CNBC interview, Lee stated that ETH was having its 2017 Bitcoin [BTC] moment and the altcoin could hit $16K.
“If the ETH/BTC ratio goes back to the 2021 high of 0.14, that would value ETH at $16K. It makes sense because ETH is a better storage of value than it was in 2021.”
For perspective, the ETH/BTC ratio is an indicator that tracks the relative price performance of the altcoin against BTC. In 2021, it peaked at 0.08, and in 2017, it jumped to over 0.14.
Based on the current market price values, going to 2021 levels would imply a $9.5K per ETH, while extending to 2017 highs of 0.14 would mean a $16K, as suggested by Lee.
The ETH treasury picked up momentum in June 2025, giving the altcoin a new demand avenue. This made it rival BTC, which enjoyed strong bidding from the likes of Strategy (MicroStrategy) and Metaplanet.
Notably, the cumulative ETH held by public companies has soared from 47K ETH to 826K ETH — an 18x growth in less than three months.
While acknowledging the debt leverage risks of treasury firms, MEXC’s chief analyst, Shawn Young, told AMBcrypto that the trend will set the benchmark for the future.
“The public disclosure of these holdings is setting a new benchmark. Companies that are incorporating digital assets now may help define the new corporate standard over the next few years.”
That said, the overall capital inflows into ETH remained resilient despite sharp declines for BTC and SOL, noted Glassnode.
This suggested that relatively strong institutional interest in the altcoin could give it a lead in recovery if market sentiment improves.
ETH was valued at $3.7K at press time, up 2.8% in the past 24 hours. BitMine’s BMNR jumped 15.6% and BlackRock’s ETHA rallied 3%, indicating that BMNR outperformed the ETF in the past few hours.
