Weekly Alpha #45 – Why I Chose TradFi for My Leveraged ETH Play

Latest DeFi Alphas Delivered in a Concise Newsletter.

Aug 12, 2025

Welcome back to Weekly Alpha — your curated edge in DeFi, tokenomics, and macro shifts before they go mainstream.

In this edition of The Weekly Alpha:

📈 How I'm Getting Leveraged ETH Exposure Through TradFi
🧐 Onchain Analytics
📚 This Week's Intel
🎧 Podcast Picks
🔓 Vesting Watch

How I'm Getting Leveraged ETH Exposure Through TradFi

This week, I'm diving into an ETH treasury play that's been on my radar. It's early-stage, high-conviction territory—the kind of opportunity where being first matters more than being safe.

I'm positioning myself ahead of what I believe could be the next wave of institutional ETH accumulation. Below, I'll break down my thesis and why I'm allocating capital here despite the obvious risks.

Remember: I'm sharing my playbook, not dispensing financial advice. Do your own research, size your bets appropriately, and never invest more than you can afford to lose. This is alpha, not guaranteed returns.

The New MicroStrategy Playbook

If you're active on CT, you've probably heard about Bitmine, Sharplink Gaming, The Ether Machine, and other companies that have recently started using ETH as a treasury asset on their balance sheets.

For ETH as an asset, this is one of the most bullish cases. It could follow a similar playbook to what Michael Saylor did with Bitcoin at MicroStrategy.

Right now, the three biggest companies holding ETH are Bitmine, Sharplink, and The Ether Machine, and this all happened incredibly fast. For example, Bitmine grew its ETH balance by 410.68% in just the last 30 days. Wild stuff.

It's reasonable to expect that more traditional companies will join this narrative in the future.

Why I'm Betting Big on ETH Strategic Reserve Companies

Why am I investing in companies that use ETH as a strategic reserve? Simple—I'm a degen who likes to take risks, but calculated risks. Here's why these plays are genius:

Traditional Market Exposure with Crypto Upside These companies give me exposure to TradFi while keeping my ETH bag intact—an asset I've been bullish on for almost a decade. It's like having your cake and eating it too.

Tax Optimization (The Boring Stuff That Actually Matters) The tax benefits are actually insane. In my jurisdiction, traditional company investments get way better tax treatment than direct crypto holdings. So I'm essentially gaming the system while staying exposed to ETH—big brain moves right there.

Leveraged ETH Play (Degen Mode Activated) This is basically a leveraged bet on ETH, and CT knows I'm long-term bullish AF. When EIP-1559 improvements really kick in and those fees start burning hard, the buy pressure is gonna be absolutely wild. Having leverage on ETH through these companies? Chef's kiss.

Staking Alpha When these companies start staking their ETH reserves, it could create serious value for shareholders through yield distribution or similar strategies. That's another layer of potential returns that direct ETH holders might miss out on.

Proven Leadership (Not Just Another Rug) These aren't random projects with anon devs. Tom Lee is Chairman of Bitmine, and Joseph Lubin (literally co-founder of Ethereum) chairs Sharplink Gaming. Both advise on ETH strategy, bringing real expertise and credibility to these plays.

The combination of TradFi access, tax optimization, leverage potential, staking alpha, and solid leadership makes these ETH strategic reserve companies a no-brainer for any serious degen portfolio.

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Onchain Analytics 🧐

AAVE on Track for $100B TVL

Aave is currently sitting at an impressive $62.1B in Total Value Locked (TVL) and $25.8B in active loans. If this growth trend continues, I project it could reach $100B in TVL by Q4, especially if Ethereum gains momentum.

As I mentioned in my recent X post, no one is expecting an airdrop from Aave, this growth is driven by genuine DeFi utility and relatively low risk compared to many other protocols, thanks to its long track record and battle-tested infrastructure.

Abstract is showing slow but steady growth.

Despite a relatively modest TVL of $48.61m, it’s up 7.33% in the past 24 hours, a sign of healthy momentum. Stablecoin market cap sits at $9.86m, and daily app fees are a solid $28.9k, with $3.7k in app revenue. Trading activity is picking up too, with $8.92m in DEX volume and $52.3k in perps volume in the last day, plus $110.8k in net inflows.

What makes Abstract interesting to me isn’t just the numbers. The L2 is full of quirky, onchain games and applications, with an onboarding process that’s smooth and beginner-friendly. As a Pudgy Penguin, I’m expecting a decent Abstract airdrop, but that’s secondary. I’m here because the chain feels genuinely useful.

I usually avoid short-term trading in favor of long-term investments backed by deeper research. But Abstract’s fast, low-friction approach to meme coin trading is surprisingly fun. It’s a new paradigm, and I’m happy to have some capital deployed here to see how it evolves.

PENGU Near ATH with 168% Growth in 3 Months

Key Metrics

3M Performance: +168.3%
Current Price: $0.03728
Market Cap Rank: #55
Status: Near all-time high
Category: Meme coin within the Pudgy Penguins ecosystem

Recent Performance
After a sharp post-launch downtrend, PENGU has staged a strong recovery and is now approaching its previous all-time high. Trading volumes have been consistently high, cementing its position as one of the most active meme coins in the market.

Catalysts

Potential Abstract airdrop, which may benefit PENGU holders
Consistent development and shipping from the Pudgy Penguins team throughout the bear market
Renewed interest in ecosystem tokens as sentiment improves

Outlook
With price momentum strong and key ecosystem developments underway, PENGU is positioned to potentially outperform if market conditions remain favorable. Long-term holders in the Pudgy Penguins ecosystem may see compounded benefits if both PENGU and Abstract deliver on growth expectations.

Ether's Bullish Performance

Ether is currently experiencing strong bullish momentum, with prices rising above $4,000 over the weekend. This surge is primarily driven by traditional finance (TradFi) demand for ETH treasury assets, though we're also seeing retail investors pivoting from Solana and other Layer 1 blockchains to Ethereum.

ETH Net Inflow

Over the past three months, ETH has demonstrated significantly positive net inflows compared to most Layer 1 chains. Ethereum recorded a net inflow of $8.5 billion, while Solana lagged considerably with a net outflow of $12 million.

Strategic ETH Reserves and ETF Supply Account for 4.89% of ETH Supply

The current strategic ETH reserve momentum that we discussed above is currently very strong to drive the price upward, is it a top signal? I don’t really know and I don’t think so to be honest and the reason is that we see real thesis and institution starting to take this asset seriously, not only as an investment but as a fuel for there activity and build RWA, we can take Robinhood for example, building on top of Ethereum with the Arbitrum stack.

This Week's Intel 📚

The signal from the noise, this week's developments that actually matter for your DeFi positioning.

I've filtered through the endless stream of headlines, hot takes, and crypto Twitter drama to bring you the stories moving the ecosystem forward. These aren't just news updates; they're intelligence briefings on where capital is flowing, which narratives are gaining traction, and what regulatory shifts could reshape your strategy.

Skip the timeline doom-scrolling. This is your weekly intel drop.

Hyperliquid drives $487B July surge in decentralized crypto trading - read
Top 5 cities where you can pay rent entirely in Bitcoin - read
Tornado Cash Verdict Threatens to Hold Back DeFi Where it Matters Most - read
Gemini Teases ‘Onchain’ Platform as CEXs Push for DeFi Adoption - read
Ethereum stakers face 9-day wait as stETH loops fall into the red - read
Base outage highlights growing pains of a chain with real users - read
Ethereum’s Fusaka upgrade may face delay - read
Ethereum TVL Hits All-Time High as ETH Rallies - read
Behind the scenes of public companies that are rushing to create crypto treasuries - read

Vesting Watch 🔓

STRK (5.98% of released Supply) - August 15
ARB (2.04% of released supply) - August 16
ZK (3.61% of released supply) - August 17

Podcast Picks 🎧

This week's audio alpha—handpicked conversations that shaped my thinking and could shift yours too.

I sift through hours of DeFi content so you don't have to. These are the episodes worth your commute, the insights that made me pause and rewind, and the perspectives that are moving markets before they hit mainstream media.

Queue these up and stay ahead of the narrative.

That’s it for this week.

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