In its crypto monthly recap for July 2025, the international investment management company VanEck proposed that Ethereum (ETH) might become a more favorable store of value than Bitcoin (BTC). The report highlighted ETH’s reduced inflation rate compared to BTC in recent months, along with its expanding role in decentralized finance (DeFi).
Could Ethereum Outperform Bitcoin in Value Storage?
Recently, an increasing number of businesses have started diversifying their financial reserves by investing in digital currencies, particularly Bitcoin. However, new trends indicate that corporations are now also acquiring Ethereum, seeing its potential as both a yield-producing and deflationary asset.
According to VanEck’s report, while Bitcoin’s limited supply and consistent issuance make it a strong contender for a store of value, Ethereum offers more financial adaptability. Specifically, ETH owners can stake their holdings to earn rewards, collect network income, and engage in DeFi initiatives for additional yield generation.
The report also contrasts the monetary policies of both networks. At its launch, Ethereum had an initial issuance rate of 14.4%, compared to Bitcoin’s 9.3%. Nonetheless, two significant policy changes have since significantly decreased ETH’s inflation, bringing it below that of Bitcoin.
The first change was Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP-1559), implemented in August 2021, which introduced a transaction fee “burn” mechanism. This created deflationary pressure during high network activity, reducing ETH’s total supply.
The second major development was “The Merge” in September 2022, which saw Ethereum shift from a Proof-of-Work (PoW) to a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) model. This transition drastically lowered issuance – from around 13,000 ETH daily to about 1,700 ETH – by removing the need to compensate miners.
Following these modifications, ETH’s inflation rate dropped below that of Bitcoin for the first time in March 2023. Since then, ETH’s supply has increased by merely 0.2%, versus Bitcoin’s 3%. The report notes:
ETH’s total supply decreased between October 7, 2022, and April 4, 2024, moving from approximately 120.6 million to a low of about 120.1 million, achieving an annualized inflation rate of (-0.25%) over this period. Since then, the ETH burn has diminished due to higher Ethereum transaction throughput, leading to a (+0.5%) increase in supply. Nonetheless, during the same timeframe, BTC supply rose by (+1.1%).
Corporate Interest in Ethereum Grows
In the past month, numerous companies have announced Ethereum-focused treasury strategies. For example, cryptocurrency firm Bit Digital recently surpassed 120,000 ETH in total holdings.
Additionally, Bitcoin mining company BitMine Immersion Technologies disclosed that its ETH holdings exceeded 833,000 tokens, making it the largest known corporate holder of this digital asset. As of the latest update, ETH is priced at $3,643, reflecting a 2.3% increase in the last 24 hours.
