Author: Tom Mitchelhill, CoinTelegraph; Translated by: Tao Zhu, Golden Finance

Executives at institutional equity investment firm Attestant said the broader market does not reflect the true value of Ethereum, a problem that could be addressed with improved messaging to entice Wall Street investors to snap up spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Attestant’s chief business officer Steve Berryman and strategic advisor Tim Lowe noted that they remain bullish on Ethereum.

However, they have their sights set on several key developments, including better marketing, diversification, and token economics, that could spark renewed interest in the asset over the longer term.

However, Lowe believes that with improved marketing and a more unified value proposition, Ethereum could easily win some of that attention, which would allow it to naturally gain value from institutional investors who choose to diversify into the asset over time.

“I think the first, simple catalyst for Ethereum is diversification. In traditional finance, almost everyone wants to have a more diversified portfolio,” Lowe said. “We know that digital assets are becoming an investable asset class for traditional investors, so it’s easy to say, well, we should diversify.”

“How to diversify? The next step is to get into ETH.”

But diversification can only be achieved by making Ethereum simpler and understandable to non-crypto natives.

“Is it an app store? Is it the internet on blockchain, or is it ‘digital oil’?” Lowe asked.

“Right now, Ethereum is only of interest to those who are interested — many of the people buying into a Bitcoin ETF are simply looking for a digital asset that is going to perform really well,” Lowe added.

“But eventually, we’ll see more refined messages and ETH will permeate into broader consciousness,” he said.

Since its launch in July, the U.S. Ethereum ETF has performed below market expectations.

Since their launch, the nine Ethereum ETFs have seen a combined net outflow of $564 million, and on September 10, they broke a streak of eight consecutive trading days without net inflows.

Compared to Bitcoin ETFs, Ethereum ETF issuance is relatively small. Source: FarSide

Staking will bring big wins

Berryman said staking is another major selling point for Ethereum in the long term, which would allow Ethereum ETF investors to earn about 4% per year by holding ETH in the fund.

Several fund managers, including BlackRock, Fidelity and Franklin Templeton, have tried to get regulatory approval to include pledges in their ETFs but have been rebuffed by the SEC.

Berryman said that excluding staking was a sacrifice the fund had to make at the time, but added that it would be an ideal situation if staking was introduced on Ethereum in the future.

“It makes sense to introduce staking at some point. If you’re going to hold Ethereum, why not stake it as well?”

In addition to concerns that staking may come under U.S. securities law, Berryman said one of the biggest challenges for ETF issuers looking to offer staking services is liquidity issues, especially in the short term.

Staked ETH can take days to be withdrawn — a problem for issuers who need to quickly redeem shares of the underlying asset upon demand.

Ethereum is “harder” than Bitcoin

Lowe added that even if staking is never an option, Ethereum’s issuance schedule itself is reason enough to invest in ETH.

While many consider Bitcoin to be a “harder” asset than Ethereum due to its supply cap of 21 million BTC, Lowe said Ethereum actually has a superior economic model for investors attracted to scarcity.

“When you pay gas fees with ETH, you’re actually taking it out of circulation, whereas Bitcoin doesn’t,” he said.

“It’s not sold to miners. It’s burned, reducing the circulating supply.”

Lowe said that Bitcoin's block reward halving every four years will bring major sustainability issues in the long run, while Ethereum's development model can avoid this.

“In pure numbers, less Ethereum is issued each year than Bitcoin,” Lowe said, which makes it a more attractive prospect for value-driven investors in the long run.