Ethereum’s 10th anniversary was marked by a significant milestone in terms of institutional crypto adoption, as cryptocurrency treasury firms surpassed $100 billion in collective investments on Thursday.
Ethereum’s 10th birthday brought renewed corporate interest in Ether (ETH), which saw the 10 largest corporate crypto treasury firms amass over 1% of the total Ether supply since the beginning of June, according to a Tuesday report by Standard Chartered.
The bank predicted that corporations will eventually hold 10% of the total Ether supply, which may see the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency surpass the bank’s year-end target price of $4,000 per Ether.
Ether’s corporate adoption is “happening faster than with Bitcoin during its early treasury adoption phase,” since Ether enables corporations to tap into staking yields and “actively generate value,” Enmanuel Cardozo, market analyst at Brickken asset tokenization platform, told Cointelegraph.
Ethereum turns 10: Here’s how its booms and busts shaped history
Ethereum celebrated its 10-year anniversary on Wednesday, with renewed institutional momentum fueling hopes that Ether (ETH) could challenge its all-time high set in November 2021.
Over the past decade, Ethereum has become the largest decentralized finance (DeFi) blockchain, with nearly $85 billion in total value locked (TVL) at the time of writing.
Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum’s co-founder, circulated an early version of the white paper in 2013. The project raised $18.3 million in its initial coin offering (ICO) and officially launched in 2015 as a blockchain for smart contracts. Its cryptocurrency, Ether, now ranks as the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization after Bitcoin (BTC).
Here’s a look back into Ethereum’s first decade, featuring the ICO boom, DeFi summer and the rise and fall of non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
Corporate crypto treasury holdings top $100 billion as Ether buying accelerates
Corporate cryptocurrency treasuries are emerging as a new class of public companies bridging traditional finance and digital assets, signaling increasing institutional interest in crypto.
Corporate cryptocurrency treasury firms, including Strategy, Metaplanet and SharpLink, have collectively amassed about $100 billion worth of digital assets, according to a Galaxy Research report released Thursday.
Bitcoin (BTC) treasury firms hold the lion’s share, with over 791,662 BTC worth about $93 billion on their books, representing 3.98% of the circulating supply. Ether (ETH) treasury firms hold 1.3 million ETH tokens, worth more than $4 billion, representing 1.09% of the Ether supply, the report said.
Corporate buyers are becoming a key source of Ether liquidity alongside US spot ETH exchange-traded funds, which recently posted 19 consecutive days of net inflows, a record for the products.
Since July 3, the Ether ETFs amassed $5.3 billion worth of ETH as part of their record winning streak, Farside Investors data shows.
More corporate buying and continued ETF inflows may help Ether surpass the $4,000 psychological mark, which is also the year-end price target of Standard Chartered, the bank said in a Tuesday research report.
“We think they may eventually end up owning 10% of all ETH, a 10x increase from current holdings,” the bank said, adding that Ether treasury firms have more growth potential than Bitcoin treasuries, from a “regulatory arbitrage perspective.”
Bitcoin miner Phoenix Group launches $150 million crypto treasury for BTC, SOL
Abu Dhabi-based Bitcoin miner Phoenix Group launched a $150 million strategic cryptocurrency reserve, becoming the first publicly listed company on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) to establish a digital asset treasury.
The company said Thursday the reserve includes 514 Bitcoin (BTC) and 630,000 Solana (SOL), describing it as a long-term holding strategy.
This makes Phoenix Group the first company listed on the ADX to establish a strategic cryptocurrency treasury, the company said in an announcement shared with Cointelegraph.
“Holding Bitcoin and other strategic digital assets isn’t just about exposure. It’s about alignment,” said Munaf Ali, co-founder and CEO of Phoenix Group. “We believe in the long-term value these networks represent, and our treasury strategy reflects that belief.”
Phoenix Group was one of the five most-traded and best-performing stocks on the ADX in the second quarter of 2025 after its share price rose by over 72% from April to June.
Increasingly more Bitcoin mining companies are considering altcoins as part of their balance sheet, signaling more institutional demand for cryptocurrencies beyond Bitcoin.
Publicly listed Bitcoin mining firm BitMine Immersion Technologies became the largest Ether (ETH) treasury firm after announcing plans to acquire up to 5% of Ether’s supply.
Metaplanet plans to raise additional $3.7 billion to buy Bitcoin
Japanese investment firm Metaplanet is seeking to raise 555 billion yen ($3.73 billion) through a new stock offering to support its aggressive Bitcoin accumulation strategy.
The company, which is known as “Asia’s Strategy,” announced Friday that it will issue perpetual preferred shares to fund its goal of acquiring 210,000 Bitcoin (BTC) by the end of 2027. The shares will offer up to a 6% annual dividend, depending on market conditions and investor demand.
“The Company intends to actively pursue equity financing as part of its ‘Bitcoin Strategy,’ which aims to acquire 210,000 BTC by the end of 2027,” it said. “We believe that introducing Bitcoin-backed preferred shares represents a pioneering effort to fill this gap.”
Metaplanet’s stock offering comes a day after Cointelegraph reported corporate crypto treasury firms had surpassed $100 billion in collective investments, with Bitcoin-focused treasuries amassing $93 billion worth of that value.
Continued corporate accumulation from the likes of Strategy and Metaplanet, paired with the growing money supply, could push Bitcoin’s price above $132,000 before the end of 2025 based on Bitcoin’s correlation with the global M2 money supply.
Strategy, the world’s largest corporate Bitcoin treasury firm, has launched similar capital-raising efforts. On July 22, the firm announced a new type of Bitcoin-backed stock pegged to $100 per share with an initial monthly dividend of 9% annually.
Former SEC official joins Veda as general counsel amid DeFi expansion
Decentralized finance platform Veda has appointed a former US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) official to its ranks as it ramps up efforts to expand crosschain yield products aimed at institutional investors.
TuongVy Le, who spent nearly six years at the SEC as chief counsel and senior adviser in the Enforcement Division and the Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs, has joined Veda as general counsel, the company announced Tuesday.
During her SEC tenure, Le advised Congress on early drafts of digital asset legislation and served on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) Global Markets Advisory Committee.
According to her LinkedIn profile, Le was involved in some of the SEC’s earliest crypto enforcement actions.
She served in the SEC’s Enforcement Division from 2016 to 2021, a pivotal period in the agency’s crackdown on unregistered securities offerings tied to initial coin offerings (ICOs).
During that time, the SEC brought actions against the promoters of BitConnect’s lending program and against LBRY, alleging both conducted unregistered securities offerings. In 2021, the agency also initiated one of its earliest DeFi-related enforcement actions, charging Blockchain Credit Partners with securities fraud.
DeFi market overview
According to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView, most of the 100 largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization ended the week in the red.
Solana-native meme token Fartcoin (FARTCOIN) fell 28%, marking the week’s biggest decline in the top 100, followed by the Bonk (BONK) memecoin, down over 23% on the weekly chart.
Thanks for reading our summary of this week’s most impactful DeFi developments. Join us next Friday for more stories, insights and education regarding this dynamically advancing space.
