After topping $111,000 in May, bitcoin has not been able to break out significantly above the $100,000 range.

Some investors may simply be cashing in their chips, according to Tom Lee, managing partner and head of research at Fundstrat Global Advisors, with investors who bought into the coin during much earlier stages of its history now sitting on huge gains. 

“We have clients that have bought bitcoin at $100,” Lee said on a recent edition of CNBC’s “ETF Edge.”

“They don’t care if bitcoin goes to a million; they are probably sellers at around $100,000,” he said.

Even if bitcoin is running into resistance at the $100,000-$110,000 level, other bets in the crypto market have taken off, including the digital assets infrastructure providers, such as Coinbase, which rose by 40% in June, its best month since last November. It was also the only stock in the S&P 500 to double in the second quarter, on top of finishing the quarter with its first three-month rally since 2023. 

Among the reasons for the boost in the crypto exchange shares, even as the price of bitcoin has stalled: the passage of the Genius Act by the Senate, the success of the Circle IPO, and the recent surge in bullishness about stablecoins.

Staking a recent focus for long-term crypto holders

With other cryptocurrencies that have stalled in trading this year, such as ether and solana, investors who have no plans to sell crypto holdings can still put them to work via staking, and it may be a good option during a period when the price isn’t gaining in the short-term. 

Staking allows investors to not only participate in the growth of a coin’s value but also be paid for its use within the decentralized financial (DeFi) system that allows people, businesses, or other entities to transact directly with each other.

“You can actually generate significant yields,” said Dave Nadig, an independent ETF expert and futurist, on “ETF Edge.”

He added that the income generated from staking is often “a few points above” what an investor might gain from a more typical fixed-income instrument. 

In some ways, it is a crypto version of a high-interest savings account, but with one key difference being it is not handled by banking institutions but the crypto exchanges and networks, and this has led to issues with regulators in recent history.

When you stake crypto, you contribute to the running and security of decentralized networks like ethereum and become a “validator” on the blockchain.

Big players in the financial markets, such as BlackRock, do believe in opportunity for staking to grow this year. Robinhood’s Johann Kerbrat, general manager of the brokerage company’s crypto division, recently spoke to CNBC about its ethereum and solana staking push. “When we talk about mass adoption, this is what it looks like,” Kerbrat said of staking and other recent additions to its crypto services.

Investing in ETFs, taking advantage of fee waivers

Other investors may be trading in their direct holdings in crypto for ETFs that now offer the same crypto market exposure. “Let’s be honest, it’s a whole lot easier to transact. It’s a lot cheaper as well,” said Nadig. 

Buying the cheapest ETF right now is cheaper than direct cash-to-coin transactions, with some ETF providers waiving all management fees to stoke more early adoption of their recent crypto portfolio editions. For example, VanEck’s Bitcoin Trust (HODL) has waived all fees until it reaches $2.5 billion in assets, through January 10, 2026.

“Effectively, bitcoin moved from one wallet to another wallet, the wallet now being ETF,” Nadig said.

The iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) and iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) have seen the most action this year overall, with over $15 billion and $2 billion, respectively, of net inflows to the crypto ETFs, as financial advisor and retail investor adoption grows. The company has been waiving a portion of the management fee on the ethereum ETF for up to $2.5 billion in assets, with the 0.25% expense ratio knocked down to 0.12%.

Meanwhile, Van Eck has also waived fees on its Van Eck Ethereum ETF (ETHV) until it reached $1.5 billion in assets through July 22 of this year.