Ethereum-linked stocks saw a sharp boost on Wednesday, as companies pivoting toward ETH strategies caught the attention of traders. The rally came while hype around stablecoins and tokenization picked up again across the crypto industry, according to reporting from CNBC. The biggest gainer was BitMine Immersion Technologies, a bitcoin mining firm that decided this week to make Ethereum its primary treasury reserve asset. Shares jumped nearly 20% after the news and have now exploded over 1,000% since that announcement. SharpLink Gaming, a betting firm that also added ETH to its treasury strategy, rose more than 11%. And Bit Digital, which left bitcoin mining behind last week to focus fully on Ethereum treasury holdings and staking, saw its shares increase by more than 6%. Firms adopt Ethereum for reserves and staking Traders responded to growing signs that Ethereum isn’t just surviving its recent slump, it’s being adopted in new ways. One of the strongest signals came from Devin Ryan, head of financial technology research at Citizens, who said : “We’re finally at the point where real use cases are emerging, and stablecoins have been the first version of that at scale but they’re going to open the door to a much bigger story around tokenizing other assets and using digital assets in new ways.” At the same time, crypto ETF flows showed a clear divergence. Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, which had seen inflows for 15 straight trading sessions, broke that streak on Tuesday. While that happened, Ethereum ETFs brought in $40 million in inflows, with BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust pulling in most of it. ETH ETFs had looked dead just a month ago, with traders calling them zombie funds. Now they’re seeing fresh interest again. Ethereum itself rose 5% on the day, based on pricing from Coin Metrics. But it’s still down 24% in 2025. The network has been under pressure since its last major technical upgrade failed to boost revenue. Its long-term value is also being questioned as faster rivals like Solana grab more attention. All of this is happening in a year where geopolitical chaos continues to keep investors on edge. Tokenization and stablecoin news fuel Ether demand Despite that, Ethereum’s role in tokenization is driving new activity. Fundstrat’s Tom Lee called Ethereum “the backbone and architecture” of stablecoins. Tether (USDT) and Circle’s USD Coin (USDC), the two biggest stablecoins, are both issued on the Ethereum network. Lee’s comment points to why ETH is still central when it comes to building stable digital payment rails. BlackRock’s tokenized money market fund, known as BUIDL (short for USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund), also started out on Ethereum before expanding to other blockchains. Tokenization is the process of creating digital versions of real-world assets or securities and putting them on-chain. But people who hold those tokenized assets don’t own the actual underlying thing. They hold the crypto equivalent. Robinhood added to the momentum this week when it said it would allow trading of tokenized US stocks and ETFs across Europe. That follows a wave of renewed attention toward stablecoins in June, sparked by Circle’s IPO and a US Senate vote to approve the GENIUS Act , a stablecoin regulation bill. Ethereum will turn ten years old at the end of July. It’s still down roughly 75% from its all-time high. But as ETH-related stocks and funds climb, and more firms ditch bitcoin for Ethereum-focused treasuries, traders are watching closely. Whether it rebounds or not, it’s still in the middle of crypto’s biggest conversation. Cryptopolitan Academy: Want to grow your money in 2025? Learn how to do it with DeFi in our upcoming webclass. Save Your Spot
