Most of the ETH in corporate treasuries was accrued in the past quarter. Playbook companies for ETH are much younger, and are yet to feel a bear cycle.
Most of the ETH in digital asset treasuries (DATs) accumulated their reserves in the past quarter. The initial buying frenzy coincided with stock price rallies. However, the Ethereum DAT model is yet to prove itself during periods of turbulence or a bear market.
The rapid adoption for ETH set the pace for other altcoin treasury companies, though for now BTC and ETH are still leading.
The DAT strategy coincided with Ethereum’s best quarter since 2016, as almost daily buying from high-profile treasuries added to the general market hype. Ethereum DAT companies also boosted attempts to recreate the model with other assets, especially SOL and BNB.
Public companies slow down ETH acquisition
Public companies now hold 5.9M ETH, and have shown signs that the initial exponential buying is slowing down.
One of the latest big purchases was from BitMine Immersion Tech (BMNR), the current leader with a goal of owning 5% of the ETH supply. BMNR added another 202K ETH on October 11, and the space has been silent since then.
The latest round of market turbulence, which put ETH just above $4,000, also added to the overall slowdown in treasury-building, as the crypto market showed signs of caution.
The DAT companies bought up seven times more ETH compared to the new tokens issued for that period. The buying added to the overall accumulation and supply crunch. In total, 14 public companies emerged with ETH treasuries, each using a ‘playbook’ to boost its ability to raise funds.
Unlike BTC treasury companies, almost no entities are buying ETH just for exposure. Additionally, some of the treasuries come from old ICO reserves, as the companies are keeping their ETH.
Only three ETH treasury companies trade above asset value
Ethereum DAT companies traded only briefly at multiples of their net asset value. The mNAV metric fell for most of the companies, as only three are trading above 1.0 ratio.
BMNR recovered to a ratio of 1.16, BTBT is at 2.0, and GAME has a ratio of 1.05. Most treasury companies have also stopped their common stock issuance after the initial round of expansion, as the playbook has become riskier.
The coming months will show how sustainable the DAT strategy is, and if other buyers will join BMNR with more regular purchases. One of the bids of Ethereum DAT companies is the possibility of passive income through staking or even liquid staking.
Ethereum has also shown peak on-chain activity and usage for transferring stablecoins. DAT companies bet on long-term developments and a cross-over between institutional finance and on-chain transfers. For now, Ethereum is also showing signs of becoming the main network for financial operations, outcompeting Solana and other chains.
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