According to Milk Road, Ethereum (ETH) compares favorably with BTC, gold, and U.S. Treasuries by offering a bond-like staking yield, faster on-chain settlement than card networks, 24/7 trading, programmability, and no centralized custodian or issuer, source: Milk Road. Ethereum provides protocol-level staking rewards paid in ETH to validators, giving holders a native yield if they stake, while Bitcoin (BTC) has no protocol-level staking or native yield, sources: Ethereum.org Staking; Bitcoin.org Developer Guide. Ethereum transactions achieve on-chain finality within minutes under proof-of-stake, whereas Visa’s network authorizes payments instantly for consumers but clears and settles net positions between issuers and acquirers on a next-day basis in ordinary course, sources: Ethereum.org documentation on finality; Visa Inc. Form 10-K. The Ethereum network operates continuously and supports programmable smart contracts for decentralized applications, enabling 24/7 on-chain activity and self-custody at the protocol level, sources: Ethereum.org What is Ethereum; Ethereum.org Accounts. U.S. Treasuries offer market-determined yields and defined auction/settlement schedules, and major traditional markets run on set trading hours, giving ETH a contrasting 24/7 settlement and programmable yield profile for traders to compare across assets, sources: U.S. Department of the Treasury Yield Curve and Auction Calendar; NYSE Trading Hours; Ethereum.org Staking.