Ether.fi's monthly spending reaches $100M, while the ETHFI token is down 21% YTD.

Author: Alea Research

Compiled by Deep潮 TechFlow

DeepChaohao Summary: Ether.fi's consumer business has surpassed $100 million in monthly transaction volume, yet its token ETHFI has declined 21% year-to-date. Will the buyback vote serve as a price catalyst? This article breaks down the revenue structure of its account model, the source of buyback funds, and key variables before the voting deadline—essential reading for holders and anyone following the on-chain financial accounts sector.

Broader financial accounts. Ether.fi combines investing with everyday payments to generate more revenue streams from each customer.

Cash spending increased by 85%. Monthly transaction volume rose from $54.3 million in January to $100.3 million in July. Its share of tracked card spending remained around 10%.

ETHFI: Down 21% year-to-date. At $0.55, its trailing annualized revenue multiple based on a fixed maximum supply is 14.2x.

Annualized repurchase funding: $16 million. This example is based on July data and is subject to approval; reward allocations have not been deducted.

September 3: Voting ends. The proposal requires 1 million ETHFI tokens to reach quorum. The loan adds $50 million to the pool, compared to $26 million in the proposal.

Ether.fi wants customers to manage their funds in a self-custodial account. In May 2024, it announced its vision of integrating staking, liquidity, and cash. Today, this account combines four features:

Save and earn. Hold assets in a self-custody vault and utilize staking and investment strategies.

Spending and transfers. Pay with Cash and move funds via fiat and crypto rails.

Trade. Buy and sell cryptocurrencies, tokenized stocks, and metals, subject to local availability.

Borrow. Gain liquidity using eligible collateral through a dedicated Aave market.

Ether.fi also offers corporate accounts for company treasuries and employee cards. Its customer interface integrates services built on partner infrastructure, including Aave lending and card payment channels. It is this vertical integration—and how all components work together to form a feedback loop—that gives it a strategic advantage.

This business model and end-user utility stand out due to their practicality. Interest-bearing assets enable collateralized borrowing, with loan proceeds funding Cash spending without requiring asset sales. This generates fee income while reducing the need to transfer assets to other providers. Membership benefits also encourage customers to stake ETHFI, directing staking value across all business lines. This makes Ether.fi not just a differentiated on-chain financial account, but also highly sticky.

Paymentscan recorded Cash monthly spending of $54.3 million in January and $100.3 million in July, an 85% increase.

Monthly active addresses reached 40,040, an 83% increase from 21,898. Average spending per address remained nearly unchanged, rising slightly from approximately $2,479 to $2,505. The number of monthly transactions per address decreased by 22%, while the average transaction amount increased by 29%.

The larger base of active users explains most of the spending growth.

During the same period, the broader market tracked expanded by 81%. Cash's share increased from 9.5% to 9.7%, representing a 2% relative growth. Cash largely kept pace with this rapidly growing category. Paymentscan disclosed that its coverage includes self-reported off-chain data, and the sample excluded certain card market segments.

Cash has kept pace with the growth of its category.

Nexo has integrated borrowing and spending. KAST combines cards with accounts and earnings. Gnosis Pay supports self-custodial spending. RedotPay leads in current transaction volume on Paymentscan. However, the competitive opportunity lies in cross-service convenience. The strength of this advantage will be determined by reuse and the profit contribution after rewards.

Cash monetizes spending through card transaction fees. DefiLlama has released an adapter estimating revenue at 1.38% of spending: $1 billion in annual transaction volume translates to $13.8 million in pre-cost revenue. Earn collects staking and vault fees. Trading generates transaction fees. Borrowing earns a share of fees retained from its lending market.

The July 14 Aave proposal disclosed that ether.fi receives 80% of the protocol fees, while Aave receives 20%. This split does not include the principal loan amount or interest paid to lenders, and ether.fi is responsible for operational costs and risk management.

According to DefiLlama’s report on its four business lines, its rolling 30-day annualized revenue reached $38.5 million as of August 30, with $17.6 million coming from Cash. Cash’s annualized run rate has nearly doubled since January 1, while total tracked revenue declined by 22% due to reduced staking and a drop in ETH price.

As staking weakens, Cash is diversifying its income.

Cash's share of monthly revenue increased from 17% in January to 46% in July.

Cash accounts for a larger share of the reduced total revenue.

The Summer Release on August 13 announced tokenized stocks and metals trading, along with an integrated Aave market. The redesigned app added over 30 currencies and payment methods, with these new features launching for both new and existing users on the same day.

In this version, management reported having over 500,000 members and an annual transaction volume of $2 billion.

The foundation released the proposal on August 30. Voting ended on September 3.

If approved, contributions from card, exchange, and staking revenues will be used to fund the foundation’s weekly purchases via CoW Swap. Labs must first collect fiat card processing fees and convert them to USDC, then transfer the contribution on-chain. Based on July’s example, the monthly amount is $1.33 million, equivalent to an annualized $16 million, subject to approval and implementation.

In its example, a $10,000 exchange at a 0.5% fee generates a $50 fee. Labs retains $20. The remaining $30 is used to purchase ETHFI: $15 is allocated to the foundation treasury and $15 is distributed as user rewards.

The proposal also authorizes the use of up to 20 million treasury ETHFI to cover the reward shortfall.

The foundation can adjust reward and fee splits, or change the purchase pace.

Increased contributions enhance purchasing power before reward distribution.

A 25% reduction would lower the annualized funding anchor to $12 million; a 50% increase would raise it to $24 million. At a constant token price of $0.55, $16 million could purchase approximately 29 million ETHFI tokens. The higher the price, the fewer tokens can be purchased.

Cash flow and price have diverged this year. ETHFI rebounded 45% from August 13 to August 30, reaching $0.55, but remains down 21% since January 1.

The price has recently rebounded above the 30-day and 90-day moving averages.

The August rebound still leaves ETHFI below its January starting point.

At a maximum supply of 1 billion, this price corresponds to a reference valuation of $545 million, or 14.2 times forward annualized revenue and 3.6 times gross fees. Gross fees include staking rewards and card cashback, which are not attributable to ETHFI holders.

The multiple corresponding to gross fees is significantly lower than protocol revenue.

The proposed annual funding of $16 million represents 2.9% of the reference valuation, excluding reward allocations. If contributions increase by 50%, this ratio would rise to 4.4% at the same price.

These ratios measure total funding capacity. ETHFI holders have no equity claim on Labs.

Assuming a 10x revenue multiple, sustaining a $545 million valuation requires $54.5 million in annual revenue, which is 42% higher than the current run rate.

September 3: Voting ended. As of August 31, the voting power was approximately 245,800 ETHFI, only 25% of the 1 million quorum.