Foreign media reports that Geoff Kendrick, head of digital asset research at Standard Chartered Bank, believes that Strategy's recent sale of Bitcoin could be the starting point for ETH to strengthen relative to BTC. The article points out that the market is not only focused on the scale of the sale itself, but also on the differences in cash flow between the Bitcoin treasury model and the Ethereum treasury model.
The ETH/BTC ratio is viewed favorably.
Kendrick stated that on the day Strategy disclosed its Bitcoin sale, despite the overall weakness in the crypto market, ETH significantly outperformed BTC. Since then, ETH has continued to rise relative to BTC.
He predicts that the ETH/BTC ratio could rise from its current level of approximately 0.028 to 0.04 by the end of this year. This means that even if both assets rise or fall in tandem, ETH's relative performance could still outperform BTC by more than 40%.
The article mentions that since Ethereum switched to the PoS mechanism in 2022, ETH had long underperformed BTC, hitting a five-year low in April 2025. However, in the past year, ETH has rebounded by more than 60% from its low, showing signs of recovery in its relative performance.
Bitcoin treasury relies more on financing
Kendrick believes the key point of this transaction is not that Strategy sold only about $2.5 million worth of Bitcoin, but rather that it reflects the operational characteristics of Bitcoin Treasury.
Bitcoin treasury companies, exemplified by Strategy, primarily rely on the appreciation of Bitcoin and capital market financing to support their operations. Since Bitcoin itself does not generate revenue, these companies may need to sell their holdings or seek further financing to cover operating costs or fulfill obligations.
In contrast, Ethereum allows users to earn rewards through staking. According to the article, the current annualized yield for ETH staking is approximately 3%, which allows Ethereum Treasury to generate some cash flow without selling any tokens.
Pledged income becomes a valuation fulcrum
The article cites Bitmine, owned by Tom Lee, as an example. Bitmine is currently one of the largest Ethereum treasuries, holding approximately $11 billion in ETH with no outstanding debt. Although this stake is currently showing a paper loss, the company expects its staking business to generate approximately $258 million in annualized revenue, and its annual rewards through the MAVAN platform to approach $300 million.
Kendrick believes that consistent staking revenue could make Ethereum treasury companies more self-sustaining than Bitcoin treasury companies. While companies like Bitmine and SharpLink Gaming currently have lower valuation premiums than Strategy, this gap could gradually narrow if the market places greater emphasis on repeatable holding returns.
The article also mentions that Kendrick predicted earlier this year that ETH was likely to outperform BTC, citing reasons such as the potential for decentralized finance-related assets to benefit more if the US crypto regulatory framework becomes clearer.
