2025 has been the year of “hard assets,” including gold and bitcoin (BTC), the latter often dubbed “digital gold.” As monetary policy eased, investors rotated into these inflation-hedging assets.
But that’s not the whole story. If you were laser-focused on gold and BTC this year, you may have missed two even stronger performers: silver and ethereum (ETH). As gold and BTC cooled in recent months, silver and ETH stole the spotlight.
The chart below compares the year-to-date price appreciation of these four assets. It’s clear that while ETH lagged the others until April, it’s since shot up to overtake them.
While gold and BTC get most of the press and the spotlight, it’s not surprising that the second-largest assets in their respective asset classes (precious metals and crypto) have outperformed this year. In fact, in an earlier edition of this column, I’d written that based on earlier crypto market patterns, ETH could well outperform BTC in 2025—and so far, that’s been the case.
How high could BTC and ETH go in 2025?
In my previous column, I’d written that it would be reasonable to expect BTC to possibly hit $160,000 (all figures in U.S. dollars unless otherwise specified). Other major Wall Street analysts, including Citigroup and FundStrat’s Tom Lee, have suggested that BTC could reach about $200,000 or more before this bull market is over. So, what does that mean for ETH?
If past cycles are any guide, this crypto bull market could still have legs.
ETH is currently trading at $4,496, but a move to $8,000 wouldn’t be unreasonable. That would represent a 64% gain from today and would still be less than 2x its previous all-time high of $4,878 (set in November 2021). In every prior bull market since ETH’s launch in 2015, it has set a new all time high with gains of at least 270% from the previous one. An approximately 100% gain from its last peak would actually be relatively conservative.
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Ethereum ETFs lead the charge in ETH resurgence
ETH ETFs did for ethereum in 2025 what BTC ETFs did for BTC in 2024: provided the legitimacy and means for institutions and other large investors to allocate a percentage of their capital to ETH without exposing themselves to the risks associated with direct exposure to the cryptocurrency itself.
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The chart below clearly shows how inflows to ETH ETFs picked up in April-May 2025—coinciding with the beginning of ETH’s 2025 bull run. July and August were bumper months for ETH ETFs with net inflows of $4.86 billion and $3.23 billion, respectively.
Canadian investors who’re bullish on ETH are spoiled for choice with regard to ETH ETFs. These ETFs are attractive to investors because they can be held in registered accounts like tax-free savings accounts (TFSAs), registered retirement savings plans (RRSPs), first home savings accounts (FHSAs), and others.
Learn more: How to invest tax-free in a bitcoin ETF
Should you invest in ETH treasury companies?
After the success of Strategy (MSTR), Michael Saylor’s Nasdaq-listed BTC treasury company, a new class of ETH-focused treasury companies have emerged. These companies follow a similar playbook to MSTR: holding a significant portion of their corporate reserves in ETH, aiming to accumulate more over time through both price appreciation and staking rewards.
Ethereum staking involves locking up ETH to help secure the network and validate transactions. In return, stakers earn additional ETH—somewhat like dividends in traditional equity investing.
Here’s a comparison of the two most prominent ETH treasury companies currently trading on public markets that Canadian investors can buy:
So, should you invest in an ETH treasury company? It’s still far too early to tell how this new category of ETH-focused treasury companies will perform. Both BMNR and SBET only announced their treasury strategies in June or July 2025—that’s hardly enough time for meaningful price discovery. Most individual investors in Canada may want to stick to ETH itself or to ETH ETFs, of which Canada has many to offer.
