Institutions are more bullish on Ether than retail ahead of ETH ETF launch

Institutional investors are more bullish on Ether than retail investors, a week ahead of the potential launch of the first spot Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Institutional investor confidence in Ether price is stronger than retail investors, according to Eugene Cheung, the head of institutions at Bybit.

Cheung told:

“Our recent report shows that institutional investors are bullish on ETH, more so than retail investors.”

Institutional investors doubled their Ether exposure shortly after the ETF was announced, from 6.54% to 14.29%, according to the report referenced by Cheung. During the same period, retail investor allocation rose to 9.52%, from 7.4%, showing a cautiously optimistic sentiment toward Ether price.

Institutional Investor Allocation to ETH. Source: Bybit

Institutional investors can significantly contribute to an asset’s price appreciation due to the high amount of capital they hold, which is why institutional crypto interest is considered a bullish sign for tokens.

Will Ether price double in the next 18 months?

Ether’s price could see a two-fold increase during the current bull cycle, meaning that ETH would be trading over the $6,800 mark by the end of 2025.

Thanks to the newfound interest in Ether ETFs, Ether price could double, according to Bybit’s Cheung, who said:

“I have seen traders increasing their exposure to Ethereum recently. The anticipation of ETF approval has also driven interest in assets within the broader Ethereum ecosystem. I am optimistic about ETH’s long-term price, expecting it to double in the next 18 months, giving potential investors an excellent risk/reward ratio.”

Ether price is up 11.3% on the weekly chart, trading at $3,420 as of 12:25 pm UTC. The world’s second-largest cryptocurrency reversed its month-long downtrend on July 8, according to Binance data.

ETH/USDT, 3-month chart. Source: TradingView

However, Ether would need another $412 billion worth of investment to double its current market capitalization and reach the $6,800 mark. Ether is currently 30% down from its all-time high of above $4,800, reached in November 2021.

Ether may outperform Bitcoin in the long term

Despite all the investor anticipation, Ether ETFs will only be a ‘sidekick’ to Bitcoin ETFs in terms of inflows, according to Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg.

This view is also echoed by Bybit’s Cheung, who expects Ether to amass around 30% of the record-breaking inflows of Bitcoin ETFs. He said:

“Ether is less understood than BTC and is a younger asset so it’s largely unknown how flows will stack up. In the short term, I would expect something like 30% of BTC flows.”

Yet in the long-term, the Ether ETF launch could provide more regulatory certainty around Ether, which could make it outperform Bitcoin price in the future, according to Cheung:

“However, as people become more educated and the regulatory situation improves, then I expect Ether to one day outperform BTC because of its rich and varied use cases, especially if the ETFs can incorporate Ether’s native yield.”

BTCÐ, 1-year chart. Source: TradingView

During the past year, Bitcoin price rose over 111% while Ether price increased over 77%, Binance data shows.

Main, News

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *