Spot ethereum ETFs hit new record with more than $3 billion in cumulative inflows

Institutional appetite for ethereum exposure grows to new peaks. 

Ethereum spot ETFs have climbed to an all-time high in cumulative net inflows at nearly $3.3 billion after 13 consecutive positive days, data from SoSoValue shows. 

Ethereum’s price has jumped roughly 45% in the past 30 days to trade hands around the $2,550 level, leading gains among the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization in the period. Despite its recent price action, the token has declined over 30% year to date and is still far from its lifetime high of roughly $4,878 set in November 2021.

The new record in cumulative inflows “is a meaningful milestone for ETH, which has been largely overlooked this year,” according to Jason Atkins, chief commercial officer of crypto trading firm Auros. 

Atkins said investor interest in ethereum took a backseat, dragging the token’s price, as a result of a number of factors — namely economic uncertainty, perceived innovation lull, and growing attention to newer narratives. 

“But that apathy may have created a setup: with ETH being ‘underowned’ by many investor types, leaving the asset primed for a squeeze higher,” Atkins told Sherwood News, citing the Pectra upgrade and the emergence of ETH treasury strategies as catalysts.

The recent inflows of spot ethereum ETFs are aiding investors who entered positions above the $3,000 mark to rebalance their portfolios, Shiven Moodley, an analyst at blockchain data firm CryptoQuant, told Sherwood. “We can expect continued interest as institutional adoption of DeFi products and ethereum-based infrastructure increases, thereby reinforcing the medium- to long-term value of the ecosystem,” Moodley said.

The Ethereum Foundation’s latest treasury policy lowers uncertainty

The all-time high in inflows comes as the Ethereum Foundation, a nonprofit supporting the network, shared its updated treasury policy stating its plans to decrease its operating expenses, provide predictability about its ethereum sales, and seek on-chain yields in the decentralized finance space. 

DeFi is a subsector of crypto that aims to provide users with peer-to-peer financial services like borrowing, lending, and trading sans traditional intermediary banks.

Noah Roy, an investment analyst at crypto investment firm Ryze Labs, said the Ethereum Foundation’s new treasury policy is an underappreciated positive development since it establishes clear spending limits and a structured approach to ETH sales. “It removes a major overhang that has historically created uncertainty around supply dynamics,” Roy added. 

Bullish sign: the line to stake substantially exceeds exit queue

The ETF inflows also come amid increased demand for native ethereum staking. The staking queue to secure the ethereum network has reached about 353,000 ethereum tokens worth over $907 million, making the entry queue wait time stand at six days. 

In comparison, the number of tokens waiting to exit sits at 3,520 ethereum tokens, or $9 million, which take about 90 minutes to complete, data from blockchain explorer Beaconcha.in shows. 

“We see this as fundamentally healthy for the ecosystem’s long-term growth, as it signals ethereum has moved past the speculative staking rush into a more mature, sustainable participation model that should attract institutional validators,” Roy said.

Jinsol Bok, an analyst at blockchain research firm Four Pillars, connected the record-high spot ethereum ETF inflows and increase in staking demand to the statement from the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance last Thursday. 

In essence, the statement said that staking does not involve the offer and sale of securities as defined under the Securities Act of 1933. (Staking refers to crypto users locking up their cryptocurrency to help validate transactions on a blockchain network in exchange for yield.)

“Some of the regulatory overhang around ETH seems to be clearing up. And with the rapid growth of stablecoins and RWAs, maybe institutions are starting to pay more attention to ETH again,” Bok said.