Ethereum price will hit $7,500 by year-end, says Standard Chartered analyst

It’s clear skies for Ethereum.

That’s because treasury companies and exchange-traded funds are devouring coins at a pace that makes Bitcoin’s corporate buyers look like snails.

Since June, Ethereum treasury companies — firms that are holding Ether on their balance sheets — have bought up about 2.6% of all Ether in circulation. Combined with Ethereum ETFs, nearly 5% of the market supply has been absorbed in just eight months — more than double Bitcoin’s fastest accumulation rate of 2% during Q4 of 2024.

With Ether trading at about $4,500, just days after it notched a fresh record, the asset is primed for an even more explosive rally, according to Geoffrey Kendrick, head of digital assets strategy at UK-based bank, Standard Chartered.

“ETH and the ETH treasury companies are cheap at today’s levels,” Kendrick wrote in a note to investors on Tuesday.

His forecast? $7,500 “by year-end.”

Kendrick’s math is pretty straightforward: when corporate treasuries hoover up supply faster than any period in crypto history, price should follow suit. And unlike Bitcoin, Ethereum buyers get a bonus — that 3% staking yield that Bitcoin can’t match.

Other analysts have already said that Ethereum is a stronger corporate treasury play than Bitcoin.

10% of all Ether

To get to $7,500, Ether will need a lot of lifting from the asset’s main buyer nowadays: treasury companies.

In a July note, Kendrick predicted that corporate holders would end up owning 10% of all Ethereum in circulation. Right now, firms hold about 3.5% on corporate balance sheets, and they show no signs of slowing down.

“I think the 10% looks well in hand, with 7.4% still to go,” wrote Kendrick today.

Of late, Ethereum treasuries have been relentless.

BitMine, a small-time Bitcoin miner turned Ethereum treasury firm, holds about 1.7 million Ether worth around $7.7 billion. Just last week, the firm added $900 million in Ether. BitMine aims to control 5% of Ether’s total supply, while planning to raise an additional $20 billion for further purchases.

But the firm led by Wall Street strategist and Bitcoin permabull isn’t alone.

Sharplink Gaming, an online casino platform steered by crypto bulwark Joe Lubin, is also buying up Ethereum in droves. It now holds about 740,000 Ether worth around $3.3 billion.

There’s another 68 corporate Ethereum holders.

Cheaper than MicroStrategy

Notwithstanding their aggressive accumulation, some Ethereum treasury companies are trading at a discount — a situation that plagues one in three Bitcoin treasury firms.

The two most established Ethereum treasuries, SBET and BMNR, trade just around an mNAV of 1, but below Strategy’s net asset value multiple. mNAV stands for market to net asset value and is basically a company’s market valuation compared to its underlying crypto holdings.

Strategy has an mNAV of 1.4, according to Bitcoin Treasuries.

That’s backwards, according to Kendrick, since Ethereum treasuries capture staking yields while Strategy captures nothing but price appreciation.

Stock buybacks

But Ethereum treasuries have an ace up their sleeve.

Sharplink has announced automatic buybacks if their stock falls below net asset value. BitMine has hinted at something similar.

SharpLink will repurchase its own stock anytime its NAV multiple drops below 1. This would create a hard floor for valuations, and protect against the spiral of doom that is threatening Bitcoin treasury companies.

For Kendrick, the setup is clear: record institutional buying, staking yields providing steady returns, and buyback protections creating valuation floors.

Now that treasuries could be on track to lock up one in every 10 Ethereum, and ETFs notching steady inflows, the supply squeeze is accelerating.

Pedro Solimano is DL News’ Buenos Aires-based markets correspondent. Got at a tip? Email him [e-mail].