VanEck characterized Ethereum as the centerpiece of its own financial system, as its network already secures over $90 billion in stablecoins, around $7 billion in tokenized assets, and $308 billion in digital assets.
At the same time, VanEck sees Ethereum making inroads outside of crypto. Based on the size of business sectors that Ethereum-built applications could disrupt, VanEck estimated that the network's total addressable market stands at $15 trillion. Those opportunities lie largely in finance, banking, and payments, VanEck said.
Ethereum could also find roles in infrastructure and artificial intelligence, the firm added, as well as marketing, advertising, social, and gaming.
We've raised our 2030 $ETH price target to $22K, influenced by ether ETF news, scaling progress, and our read of onchain data. Additionally, we've analyzed how $ETH and BTC perform in both traditional and crypto-only portfolios for optimal returns. @Matthew_Sigel @Patrick_Bush_VE…
— VanEck (@vaneck_us) June 5, 2024
The report highlighted some of Ethereum’s distinct aspects as a network and an asset, from its nature as “programmable money” to a “yield bearing commodity.” Notably, VanEck’s report calls Ethereum an “internet reserve currency,” central to its massive ecosystem and layer-2 networks.
VanEck’s report comes not long after the Securities and Exchange Commission’s approval of spot Ethereum ETFs. Allowing mainstream investors to gain exposure to the cryptocurrency in a traditional brokerage account, the move also had implications for Ethereum’s regulatory status.
For crypto natives, the concept may be basic, but its significance was underscored by VanEck: In order to send Ethereum or engage with smart contracts, a user needs to spend Ethereum on gas fees, which are then removed from circulation through burning. In essence, VanEck said that this dynamic benefits Ethereum holders two-fold: providing demand while reducing supply.
The asset manager expects Ethereum will also chip away at established tech giants like Google and Apple as a platform for developers to create consumer-facing applications. While the firms take around 30% of revenue from apps hosted in their respective digital stores, VanEck said Ethereum currently takes around 24% of reventhrough gas fees.
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