The corporate hoarding of cryptocurrencies has ignited the cryptocurrency market, with Bitcoin and Ethereum both approaching historical peaks
Bitcoin and Ethereum both approached historic record highs on Wednesday, with investor enthusiasm surging and funds flowing into Ethereum. Bitcoin briefly surpassed $120,600, just 2% below its July peak; Ethereum is only 3% away from the record set during the 2021 bull market. The rise in Ethereum is attributed to record capital inflows and emerging Ethereum treasury institutions. The net inflow into U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs exceeded $1.7 billion, while Bitcoin funds faced capital outflows. Standard Chartered Bank pointed out that the passage of the "GENIUS Act" has cleared the way for the mainstream application of stablecoins
According to Zhitong Finance APP, Bitcoin and Ethereum both approached historical record highs on Wednesday, with investors pouring into these two major cryptocurrencies with unprecedented enthusiasm, and recent capital flows showing a trend leaning towards the latter.
On Wednesday, Bitcoin briefly broke through the $120,600 mark, just 2% lower than its peak in July. Meanwhile, Ethereum has shaken off its sluggishness, currently just 3% away from the record set during the 2021 bull market. Data from CoinGecko shows that as the second-largest cryptocurrency, Ethereum is leading the cryptocurrency market, pushing the total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies to a record $4.2 trillion.
The recent rise in Ethereum is attributed to two main drivers: record inflows of funds directly investing in the token, and the emergence of Ethereum treasury institutions springing up like mushrooms after rain—these publicly traded companies are emulating Michael Saylor's Bitcoin accumulation strategy, having collectively absorbed $17 billion worth of Ethereum according to StrategicEthReserve.xyz.
Among them, 180 Life Sciences Corp. (ATNF.US), operating under the business name ETHZilla, continued its stock price surge on Wednesday, soaring nearly 80% in pre-market trading. This company, backed by billionaire Peter Thiel and transitioning from a biotechnology firm to an Ethereum treasury platform, saw its stock price skyrocket over 200% after announcing it holds 82,186 Ethereum on Tuesday.
Compilation data shows that since August, net inflows into U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs have exceeded $1.7 billion, while Bitcoin funds have faced an outflow of $436 million during the same period. Notably, on Tuesday, the trading volume of nine U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs surpassed that of twelve similar Bitcoin products for the first time. Coinglass data also indicates that the open interest in Ethereum futures across exchanges has climbed to a historical peak of $66 billion.
Geoff Kendrick, Global Head of Digital Asset Research at Standard Chartered Bank, wrote in a report on Wednesday: "The passage of the GENIUS Act in the U.S. in July has cleared the way for the mainstream application of stablecoins, which is a key change. Currently, stablecoins account for 40% of all blockchain transaction fees, and over 50% of stablecoins are based on the Ethereum network. As liquidity in stablecoins increases, decentralized finance (DeFi) activities will become more active—where Ethereum holds a dominant position in this field, thus the GENIUS Act should indirectly boost the activity of the Ethereum Layer 1 network."
Based on this, Standard Chartered Bank has significantly raised its target price for Ethereum at the end of 2025 from $4,000 to $7,500
