The 80% rise of Ethereum since the beginning of June is prompting investors to seek ways to leverage the momentum of the second largest cryptocurrency, from new exchange-traded funds to public companies building their business on its network.

The growth of the token began after the stablecoin issuer Circle started trading on June 5, revealing that the majority of the $65 billion USDC supply was issued on Ethereum or its so-called Layer 2 scaling chains.

This has heightened attention to investment instruments related to blockchain growth.

One way is through spot Ethereum ETFs that directly hold the digital asset. BlackRock (New York:BLK) proposed to add staking, the transaction validation process on the network, to its iShares Ethereum Trust, potentially allowing investors to earn a yield of around 2.9% in the blockchain. Approval would mark the first instance of the native blockchain economy being integrated into an ETF.

Another option is "Ethereum treasury companies" that invest capital in the purchase and holding of ETH, sometimes using leverage, actively managing debt and staking to generate income.

They operate more like active fund managers, making performance highly dependent on management skills.

Investors can also buy shares of companies embedded in the Ethereum ecosystem. Bernstein considers Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) to be the most aligned with this strategy, managing the high-volume chain Base and owning approximately $590 million in ETH.

The rise in Ethereum prices may increase Coinbase's trading fees, staking income, and revenue from transactions calculated in ETH. Robinhood (NASDAQ:HOOD), which has launched ETH staking for users in the US and is planning its own chain based on Ethereum, is also a beneficiary.

Bernstein expects that the recent rise in ETH will lead to an increase in trading volumes in the second half of the year, with Coinbase benefiting the most from what analysts are calling an "altcoin rally" in digital assets.