Hassan Maishera
TL;DR
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Standard Chartered analyst Geoff Kendrick believes that investors are better off buying Ethereum treasury stocks compared to spot Ether ETFs.
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Ethereum treasury companies have bought 1.6% of all ETH in circulation since June.
Ethereum Treasury Stocks are Matching Spot Ether ETFs
Standard Chartered’s global head of digital assets research, Geoffrey Kendrick, believes that Ethereum companies are now “very investable” and better than spot Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
According to the analyst, Ethereum treasury companies' net asset value (NAV) multiples — their market cap divided by value of ETH held — have now "started to normalize" and are expected to stay above 1. This data makes them a better asset to buy than U.S. spot ETH ETFs.
In an email to The Block, Kendrick added that,
“I see no reason for the NAV multiple to go below 1.0 because I see these firms as providing regulatory arbitrage opportunities for investors.”
He pointed out that with the NAV multiples normalizing, ETH treasury companies offer better access to ether price appreciation, staking rewards, and ETH-per-share growth, unlike U.S. spot ETH ETFs, which currently cannot stake or participate in decentralized finance.
The analysts added that the NAV multiple for SharpLink Gaming (ticker SBET) has now eased back to just above 1.
In addition to that, Ethereum treasury companies have now also purchased 1.6% of all ETH in circulation since June, similar to the purchases made by ETH ETFs during the same period.
Kendrick’s comments come a week after he pointed out that Ethereum treasury companies “are just getting started.” He stated that Ethereum treasury companies offer stronger upside than bitcoin-focused ones, thanks to their ability to earn staking rewards (around 3%) and access DeFi leverage.
The analyst added that Ether treasury holdings could grow faster thanks to greater institutional acceptance of crypto as a corporate reserve asset and ETH’s ability to generate yield.
Ethereum’s ETH is the second-largest crypto by market cap and currently trades at $3,680, up nearly 2% in the last 24 hours.
