BTC and ETH have now become assets in two different sectors,
Both have completely different buyers and bull-bear structures,
And both have begun to experience a shift away from retail speculation towards institutional allocation and utility-driven models.
- $BTC is becoming a global macro hedge asset, with investors focusing on fiat currency depreciation, debt cycles, and the risk resistance of asset allocation.
- $ETH is seen as a yield-generating asset in the digital economy, with marginal buyers focusing on network cash flow, staking yields, and the expansion speed of on-chain ecosystems.
The purchasing logic for BTC has completely shifted from virtual to real, moving from pure speculation to traditional balance sheet management.
The largest buyers are naturally ETFs, but in reality, the primary role of ETFs for BTC now is passive allocation, as many institutions (like pension funds and endowments) have started to include BTC in their 60/40 investment portfolios (for example, allocating 1-3%),
This type of buying is insensitive to price and represents a long-term stable passive demand, functioning as an automatic investment in BTC, which will gradually raise the price floor of BTC without anyone noticing. This is also why I believe it is difficult for BTC to experience a serious collapse.
The buying structure for ETH is complex but easy to understand. Although ETH also has ETFs, a portion of ETH investors actually value the risk-free rate on-chain.
Some institutions optimistic about ETH are more focused on continuous yield, buying spot and staking, which is also why the scale of ETH's ETF seems less massive than BTC's, as a large amount of demand is diverted to on-chain staking.
Investors in the crypto space seldom pay attention to traditional investors' views on ETH. In our eyes, blue-chip ETH is akin to small-cap altcoins with high volatility in traditional sectors, and their attention to Ethereum's income dividends is higher than one might expect.
The yield-oriented institutions mentioned earlier view ETH as an alternative bond, especially when U.S. Treasury yields are declining (currently in a rate-cutting cycle). The 3-4% staking yield of ETH becomes increasingly attractive to yield-seeking institutions, and as long as ETH's yield outperforms the 10-year U.S. Treasury allocation, they will automatically buy, regardless of the narrative.
