On May 22, 2025, the House of Representatives passed the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act, which created definitions for digital assets and outlined jurisdictional boundaries. This helped ease fears that Ether could be deemed an unregistered security.
On July 18, 2025, Congress passed and President Trump signed the GENIUS Act, establishing strict but supportive rules for stablecoins. This was especially important for Ethereum because most stablecoins now operate on Ethereum technology.
Stablecoins and tokenized securities
A stablecoin is a cryptocurrency which, as the name suggests, has been designed to maintain a stable value, usually pegged to a fiat currency like the U.S. dollar. It achieves this by holding reserves such as cash or Treasuries.
The purpose of stablecoins is to enable fast, low-cost digital payments. They are widely used as on-chain “cash.”
U.S. dollar-based stablecoins like USDT (issued by Tether) and USDC (issued by Circle) are not actual dollars but function like digital dollars.
The new legislation is designed to give investors confidence that each stablecoin issued by a third party is actually backed by the appropriate amount of real U.S. dollars.
Tokenized securities are slightly different but conceptually similar.
The value of tokenized securities may fluctuate, but they represent real ownership interests in specific assets—like a share of stock, an ounce of gold, or a participation interest in a real estate investment.
In the future, we may commonly hold tokenized stocks like how we now hold Bitcoin or Ethereum—in the form of digital assets that can be traded 24/7.
How Ethereum wins
Ethereum is not the only blockchain technology that addresses the opportunity ahead as the financial system moves “on-chain”—in other words, as stablecoins proliferate and assets become tokenized.
But Ethereum is uniquely positioned to benefit from the rapid growth of stablecoins and tokenized securities because it already serves as their primary settlement layer.
It is estimated that over 60% of all stablecoin value—led by USDT and USDC—circulates on Ethereum and its “layer-2” networks (secondary blockchains built on the “layer-1” Ethereum network for additional speed and efficiency).
While other cryptocurrencies may or may not have certain technological advantages over Ethereum (a topic that is hotly debated among crypto enthusiasts), Ethereum’s already large share gives it the benefit of massive network effects.
Investors should be reminded that the absolute best technology is not necessarily the one that prevails in the end.
The classic example is VHS versus Betamax in the war over technical standards for Video Cassette Recorders (VCRs).
Betamax actually offered superior picture quality, but VHS won through network effects: broader manufacturer support, more content availability, and cheaper hardware.
One might argue that Ethereum may not be the most technically advanced blockchain, but it has achieved dominant network effects: the largest developer base, most liquidity, widespread institutional adoption, and deep software tooling infrastructure.
In other words, everyone is already using it, and it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Like VHS, this entrenched position could make it hard for alternatives to displace Ethereum, even if they offer better performance.
This is not to say other cryptocurrencies that perform similar functions cannot co-exist with Ethereum and thrive… but the network effect argument is important for understanding why Ethereum potentially has real staying power.
With every stablecoin transaction, gas fees, which are basically payment processing fees, must be paid to the Ethereum network. This creates demand for the Ether token and represents the mechanism by which Ether has potential to rise in value as the Ethereum network expands.
Meanwhile, many tokenized securities initiatives—by traditional financial firms like BlackRock, Franklin Templeton and JPMorgan—are being built on Ethereum or Ethereum-compatible chains.
These firms are using Ethereum because of its relatively proven security, established smart contract standards and deep developer ecosystem.
The technological details may be complicated, but the upside investment case for Ether is actually quite simple:
(1) the financial world is going to the blockchain;
(2) this could create extremely strong demand for various cryptocurrencies that help enable this transformation;
(3) Ethereum has the highest market share among them and will remain dominant.
Why BMNR?
Investors who want exposure to Ethereum can buy Ether directly on crypto exchanges, like Coinbase or Kraken. They can also buy Ethereum-based Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).
Some of the largest Ethereum ETFs include the iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA), the Fidelity Ethereum Fund (FETH), and the Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust (ETH).
There are various publicly traded stocks that offer exposure to Ethereum as well. Of these, BMNR has very quickly become the most prominent.
With a market capitalization around $10 billion, BMNR is about one-tenth the size of MSTR, which is now valued around $100 billion. BMNR is still much smaller than MSTR, but it is now the second most valuable crypto treasury stock.
The company’s most recent press release from September 15, 2025 indicates that it holds nearly $11 billion of crypto assets and net cash, including 2.15 million in Ether holdings, which is worth nearly $10 billion at current trading levels around $4,500.
BMNR’s valuation relative to its treasury holdings is a moving target that depends on changes in the share price and the market value of Ether, but by our estimates there is little premium if any.
By contrast, MSTR trades at approximately 1.5x the underlying value of its Bitcoin holdings and has traded at a significantly higher premium in the recent past.
Following the MSTR playbook
BMNR intends to use the company’s ability to issue shares as a way to grow its Ether holdings per share of stock. The stated goal is to accumulate 5% of the total supply of Ethereum, versus just under 2% that is held today.
In addition to Peter Thiel (Founders Fund), prominent tech/crypto investors who are connected to investments in BMNR include Cathie Wood (ARK Funds), Kraken, Barry Silbert (DCG/Grayscale), and Michael Novogratz (Galaxy Digital).
As Chairman, Tom Lee is now the face of the company.
Tom has had a unique and extremely successful Wall Street career. He began as a wireless telecommunications analyst in the 1990s. He later became a prominent market strategist and now leads Fundstrat, his own independent research firm.
Like Michael Saylor, Tom is very visible in the financial media with an apparent focus now on promoting the Ethereum investment case and BMNR.
Potentially vast upside optionality
MSTR has been among the best performing stocks in the large-cap universe over the past five years, surpassing even NVIDIA (NVDA). If one is looking to pursue a high return investment strategy, MSTR is not a bad business model to emulate.
Investing in crypto is inherently speculative, but Tom Lee and other Ethereum bulls make a reasonable case, grounded in facts and observable trends, for significant upside in Ether.
Within the BMNR investment presentation, the company suggests a long-term valuation level of $60,000 per Ether, which implies price appreciation around 13x current levels. On top of this, the company aspires to grow the share price faster than the rate of appreciation of Ether.
Like we have seen with MSTR, BMNR could outperform Ether if it can expand its premium to underlying holdings and issue equity along the way (to purchase more Ether) as the value of Ether rises.
Any stock could end up being a total failure, whether it is in the crypto space or a very traditional industry. On the other hand, not many business models realistically offer the potential of extremely high returns.
With the ink barely dry on transformative legislation, the financial world is on the cusp of fundamental technological changes to how it operates.
There are absolutely no guarantees that Ethereum or BMNR will generate great results as a result of these changes.
But if Ethereum does benefit in this new landscape, we have already seen through MSTR what kind of long-term upside is possible when you combine a surging crypto asset with a smart management team trying to efficiently accumulate it.
