Bitcoin hits new all-time high… What about Ethereum?

Bitcoin (BTC) continues to rise by breaking its all-time high in a month and a half, but the leading altcoin Ethereum (ETH) shows relatively limited recovery. Experts believe that the spread of stablecoins and the trend of institutional asset tokenization could provide an opportunity for ETH's price to rebound.

At 1:04 PM on the 10th, according to CoinMarketCap, the ETH price recorded $2,777.01, up 7.10% from the previous day. This is a concurrent rise following BTC breaking through $111,900 and setting a new high. However, while BTC has surpassed its previous high from May 22nd after about 45 days, ETH has not gained momentum in its recovery. ETH remains at around 60% of its all-time high recorded in November 2021 ($4,666.71).



The market analyzes that the spread of stablecoins could bring ETH back into focus. Tom Lee, Managing Partner of Fundstrat, explained in a recent interview with Coinage that "Ethereum is a Layer 1 (L1) blockchain where physical assets are tokenized." He said, "The explosive growth of stablecoins and asset tokenization attempts by companies like Robinhood and Coinbase provide Ethereum an opportunity to preempt the market ahead of traditional finance."

In fact, according to DeFi Llama, a cryptocurrency data provider, approximately 49.67% of all stablecoins are issued on the Ethereum network. If Ethereum establishes itself as a practical infrastructure in the financial industry, including stablecoins, the demand for ETH could expand. Lee stated, "From this perspective, ETH could rise to $10,000 in the future." He recently announced a $250 million ETH treasury strategy through Bit-Main Emerging Technologies, which he leads.

The changed stance of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which is now encouraging tokenization, is also a positive sign for Ethereum. Joseph Lubin, Ethereum's co-founder, said, "During the former SEC Chair Gensler's tenure, issuing tokens or building applications was burdensome, but that era has passed." Since Paul Atkins became SEC Chairman in April this year, the SEC has taken the position that "tokenization is a market innovation to be encouraged." As tokenization of various physical assets, including stocks, becomes full-scale, the utilization of Ethereum, which technically supports this, could also increase.

However, there are also analyses that ETH is still weak as an alternative investment asset compared to BTC. Kim Dong-hyuk, a researcher at D-Spread, said, "The current price increase of BTC is driven by institutional buying," and "In contrast, ETH does not have as strong a strategic position in traditional institutions as BTC." He added, "However, it is worth noting whether ETH can secure a new momentum as companies are actively considering ETH staking and DeFi utilization."

Do Ye-ri, Reporter