Ethereum Outperformed Bitcoin Over the Past Decade, Says Ether Machine Founder

Highlights:

• Ether Machine founder says Ether outperformed Bitcoin over 10 years with up to 50x returns.
• Andrew Keys believes Ether will gain the most from GENIUS Act and stablecoins.
• Peter Schiff claims Ethereum remains bearish against Bitcoin despite recent market movements.

Andrew Keys, the co-founder of Ethereum-focused investment firm The Ether Machine, believes investors would have seen far greater returns by choosing Ether over Bitcoin. Speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box, Keys pointed out that the value of Ether compared to Bitcoin has significantly improved throughout the past ten years. He mentioned that someone holding Ether since Ethereum’s early days could now be around 50 times wealthier. He also discussed plans for his new Ethereum treasury firm to go public.

Keys Doubles Down on Ethereum-Only Stance

Ether Machine founder also told CNBC that he supports Ether only and does not own any BTC. He said, “I’d rather have an iPhone than a landline.” In a post on X, he later revised the growth estimate from 50 times to 30 times. He clarified the correction after his earlier statement on Ethereum’s performance.

@JoeSquawk @andrewrsorkin @BeckyQuick thanks for having me on @SquawkCNBC today. Here's the evidence of #Ether's outperformance against #Bitcoin over the last decade. It is over 30x from July 21st, 2015. pic.twitter.com/SlEuaxe9ZC

— Andrew Keys (@AK_EtherMachine) July 21, 2025

Keys also mentioned that Ethereum would benefit the most from the GENIUS Act. He explained that most stablecoins are built on Ethereum. He added that Ethereum is following power law dynamics. Around 90% of tokenized assets are created on Ethereum, just like how 90% of internet searches happen on Google.

Ethereum Investment Firm to Go Public as ETHM

Keys is the chairman of the newly launched firm, which is set to begin operations with over 400,000 ETH. At today’s value, that amounts to nearly $1.5 billion and would mark it as the biggest public platform focused on institutional Ethereum exposure. This would place the firm ahead of Bitmine and SharpLink, whose current ETH reserves stand at 300,000 and 280,000 coins, respectively.

As per the July 21 announcement, the company is going public by merging with Dynamix Corporation. It plans to start trading under the ticker “ETHM” sometime later this year. The deal includes a major Ethereum investment of around $645 million from co-founder and chairman Andrew Keys. The deal also includes $645 million in ETH from Keys and $800 million from major investors. Backers include Kraken, Pantera, Blockchain.com, Electric Capital, Archetype, and other top firms.

Schiff Sees Limited Upside for Ethereum, Favors Bitcoin Instead

In contrast to Andrew Keys’ bullish stance on Ethereum, Peter Schiff offered a more skeptical view in a recent X post. He argued that Ethereum is in a bear market relative to Bitcoin and described its recent gains as part of a short-lived rally. Schiff noted that Ether is trading near the top of its current range and believes that there’s little room for further upside. He believes now is a good time to exit Ether positions and calls Bitcoin the better option in present market conditions.

Ether is back near the upper end of its trading range again. If you own any, this is a great time to sell. As much as it pains me to say, selling Ether and buying Bitcoin with the proceeds is a better trade than holding Ether.

— Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) July 21, 2025

When asked why he thinks this way, Peter Schiff replied in another X post that his view comes from chart patterns, not personal feelings. He said he’s doubtful about both Bitcoin and Ethereum, but Ethereum now faces more competition in its use and story.