According to analysts, Ethereum’s strong performance in the second quarter is evidence of an increase in institutional demand. However, futures data shows divergence as retail investors appear to be on the sidelines.
The main factors behind this disparity are lack of capital, unequal access to information, and differences in thinking between the two cohorts. Decryption on tuesday.
At the time of writing, Ethereum According to Coingecko, it overcame Macro’s headwinds last week, revoking last week’s losses with a 7.75% jump from Sunday’s lowest. ETH is currently handing over the hands for $3,661.11 after winning 3% in the past day.
Total assets held within the US Spot Ethereum Exchange traded funds or ETFs reached a record high of $21.52 billion on July 31st.
Experts say it is a clear indication of institutional appetite.
“Institutional clients will look to regulated digital asset platforms to hedge macro risk,” said Emashi, director of Hashkey OTC. Decryption.
The top two cryptography act as “value and potential hedge alternatives” and are increasingly considered in this context.
This trend is the result of the activities of the Ministry of Corporate Treasury, such as Bitminer (BMNR), and has now emerged as the world’s largest holder of Ethereum, which now has an incredible 833,000 ETH worth $3 billion.
“We separated ourselves among our Cryptocurrency peers, both by the speed of increasing crypto NAV per share and the high liquidity of our stock,” Bitmine Chairman Tom Lee said in a statement yesterday.
LookonChain data provides a more detailed view of recent Ethereum purchases, showing that 14 fresh wallets have accumulated 856,554 ETH since July 9th.
Three of these wallets scooped 63,837 ETH, worth $236 million, through Falconx and Galaxy Digital’s commercial (OTC) desks.
Retail and institutional differences
This robust institutional demand is data from the cryptographic information platform Kiyomoto, which demonstrates a more hesitant approach from retail investors.
The long/short ratio held by Eth Futures Traders has been on a downtrend since April. It suggests a pattern of underestimation and a common “bysitting” attitude, a cryptographic analysis platform described in X.
$eth is below this whole assembly – the latest dip saw minimal purchase
Perps positioning says it all. Most traders are sitting on the sidelines and expecting it to be low, so they are still under ownership. pic.twitter.com/zkx2qlsylt
— Kiyotaka (@kiyotaka_ai) August 4, 2025
Naman, co-founder and CEO of Nodops, says large investors can access “benefits of scale,” often “access to a sophisticated Defi strategy,” and “out-of-reach or inefficient for smallholders.” Decryptionemphasizes the divergence mentioned above.
Reflecting Naman’s sentiment, Hashkey’s chapter outlined that differences in “thinking” highlight the retail and institutions.
Retail participants have a “defensive” mindset and focus on “recovering capital before considering new investments,” while larger players treat dips as “discounts” and see them as a purchase opportunity.
Sleek holders think long term, unlike retailers, which are generally characterized by short-term retention windows, Shi said. The Treasury of Digital Assets accumulating Ethereum is focusing on the importance of a “robust risk management framework” and “long-term convictions in the Ethereum ecosystem,” she added.
Also, retailers are hampered by low interest rates, fewer arbitrage opportunities, and the types of tradeable information that are common in the asset manager circle, Shi said.
