Ethereum Over Bitcoin? Matt Hougan Says Institutions Sometimes Start With ETH

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Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan has stated that a increasing fig of nonrecreational investors are skipping Bitcoin and turning straight to Ethereum arsenic their archetypal crypto investment. This has agelong been regarded arsenic the introduction constituent into integer assets, and Bitcoin is present sharing the spotlight with Ethereum.

Ethereum Emerging As First Choice For Professional Investors

In Ripdoteth’s update connected X, Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan has revealed connected unrecorded that an absorbing inclination is emerging. He claims that galore nonrecreational investors are bypassing Bitcoin and going straight to Ethereum,  whose inferior successful decentralized finance, astute contracts, and Web3 applications is progressively drafting organization capital. The crushed helium explains is rooted successful however institutions already deliberation astir portfolio construction.

According to the expert, astir nonrecreational investors don’t really ain gold. This is due to the fact that Gold is considered a niche asset, with possibly lone 15% to 20% of institutions holding it, portion the immense bulk of 80% oregon much put successful stocks and bonds. 

Since Bitcoin is often framed arsenic integer gold, its entreaty is constricted for galore professionals who ne'er allocated to golden successful the archetypal place. “A batch of radical look astatine Bitcoin similar it’s integer gold. I don’t ain gold, but I bash ain technologies,” Hougan stated. 

ETH fits people into the portfolios of those who already allocate to innovative technologies. With tokenization and stablecoins gaining traction, helium expects institutional travel into ETH to proceed gathering momentum.

ETH Hits All-Time Highs As Institutions Target Long-Term Holdings

While institutions spot Ethereum arsenic the vulnerability to the technological backbone of a integer economy, Wall Street FOMO has deed historical levels, arsenic the US organization appetite for ETH is reaching unprecedented heights. 

Crypto trader Bull Theory has highlighted that successful August 2025 alone, Ethereum Spot ETFs purchased $3.87 cardinal worthy of ETH, driven astir wholly by nonrecreational investors chasing semipermanent exposure. Leading the complaint is $11 trillion plus manager BlackRock, which allocated $3.38 cardinal worthy of ETH and $707 cardinal successful Bitcoin, highlighting a wide penchant for ETH implicit BTC.

This question of organization buying pushed Ethereum to caller all-time highs successful August. Importantly, the bulk of these purchases are intended for semipermanent holdings, reducing contiguous merchantability unit and supporting sustained terms momentum. If ETH closes supra $4,630, it volition people the highest monthly adjacent since the 2021 bull run.

Furthermore, Ethereum’s transaction volumes surged past $320 cardinal on-chain, reflecting wide engagement crossed decentralized finance, stablecoins, and tokenized assets. Meanwhile, staking continues to pull Wall Street attention, with astir 36 cardinal ETH, which is 29% of the full circulating supply, present locked successful staking contracts. With 3% staking rewards, Ethereum provides organization investors with a dependable dividend, making it much appealing for semipermanent portfolios.

EthereumETH trading astatine $4,404 connected the 1D illustration | Source: ETHUSDT connected Tradingview.com

Featured representation from iStock, illustration from Tradingview.com

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