Eth Liquidity Check: Is It Catching Up with Bitcoin?

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1. Realized Cap: Measuring New Capital InflowsRealized Cap Tracks the Net USD-Denominated Capital Investled in A Token, Reflection The Cumulative Cost Basis of All Holders. Since The Cycle Low in November 2022, Eth Has Absorbed over $ 81 Billion In Fresh Capital Inflows, Pushing Its Realized Cap to A New All-Time High of $ 266 Billion As of August 8th, 2025.

For Context, This Represents a 43% increase For Eth Over The Period – Substantialial, But Still Well Belen Bitcoin’s 136% Rise in Realized Cap. The Slower Growth Rate Suggests That While Eth Has Been Attracting Meaningful New Investment, There May Still Be Ample Room for Expansion As Institutional Interest Accelerates.

2. UNHEDGED SPOT ETH ETF DEMAND: TRACKING INSTITUATIONAL ALLOCATIONIn Our Bitcoin Study, We Developed A Method to Estimate Genuine Institutional Demand by Isalating Etf Inflows not tied to Hedged Arbitrage Trades. Apply This Framework to Eth Shows That 80–90% of Spot Eth etf Inflows Are Likely Genuine Institutional Allociations, With The Remainder Driven by Arbitrage Strategies – Long Spot Positions Hedged Via Cme Futures to Capture Price Differentials.

Interestingly, The Proportion of Arbitrage-Related Flows Is Much Higher for Eth Who Bitcoin, WHERE ONLY AROUND 3% of Spot Ether etf Inflows Are Estimated to Be Arbitrage-Based. This Highlights That Institute Allocation to Eth Still Lags Beind Btc, Thought We Expert This Gap to Close Gradualally with The Recent Influx of Institutional Interest in the CrypTocurrency.

Data Source: Avenir, CFTC, Glassnode

3. Futures and Options Open Interest: Gauging Derivatives GrowthAs of July 21st, Combined Open Interest (Oi) in Eth Futures and Options Stood at $ 71 Billion. However, Unlike Bitcoin – Where Oi in Perpetual Futures and Options Is Nearly Balanced – Eth Options Oi Remains Less Half of Perpetual Futures Oi.

Given that options are more of the used by Professional Traders and Institutions, This Imbalance Indicates that Institutional Derivatives Participation in Eth Still Has Significant Room.

4. Limit Order Book Imbalance: Reading Market SentimentOrder Book Analysis Reveals Notable Sentiment Shifts. WHEN ETH REGAINED $ 3,800 IN JULY AFTER 7 MONHS, A STRONG SELL-Side Skew Emerged On The Limit Order Books (LOB), Suggesting Intense, Long-Awaited Profit-Taking. But as the price retraced Toward $ 3.300, Buy-Side Depth Increated Significantly, Signaling “Buy-The-Dip” Behavior At that Level. SINCE THEN, The Order Book Has Shown A More Balanced Supple-Demand Profile, Suggesting No Extreme Positioning from the Market at Present.

Data Source: Avenir, Binance

5. Digital Asset Treasuries (Dats): Growing Structural Buyers of EthA New and Increasy Important Source of Demand for Eth ComESS FROM DATS – Corporations that Diversify Into Eth BY Holding IT on their Balance Sheets. For Example, Bitmin and Sharplink Are Two of the Mosst Notable Representatives of this Trend.

Since April, Dats Have Acumulated Roughly 4.1 Million Eth ($ 17.6 Billion), Representing About 3.4% of the circulating Supple; Bitmine Alone Accounts for 1.3%. For Context, US SPOT ETH ETFS CURRENTLY HOLD 5.4% OF ETH Total Supple. This Highlights of the Scale of these Structural Allocations from Dats.

WHAT SETS DAT FLOWS APART IS Their Long-Duration Nature. Unlike Futures or Etf Arbitrage Inflows, Treasury Allocations Are Less Likely to Rotate Capital Frecal, Making Them A Source of Sticky Structural Demand.

ConclusionAcross On-Chain and Off-Chain Liquidity Metrics, One Theme Is Clear: Eth’s Institutional Participation is Still in the Early Stages Compared to Bitcoin. Realized Cap Growth, ETF Inflow Composition and Derivatives Market Structure All Point to Significant Unapped Potential.

At Same Time, Dat Allocations Are BComing A Powerful Driver of Sustaned Eth Flows, Much Like How How Corporate Balance Sheet Strategies Such As Strategy Creted A New Str. Rally in Late 2024.

If institctional adoption of ethth follows a traject Similar to Bitcoin’s, The Coming MONTHS COURCKS CAPITAL CAPITAL INFLOWS, AND WITH THEM, THE PETENTIAL FOR OUTTSIZED.