Corporations and Wall Street entities are starting to recognize Ether as the next emerging treasury asset as the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency and blockchain network celebrates its 10th anniversary on Wednesday.
Ethereum went live on July 30, 2015, introducing smart contract functionality and laying the foundation for the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem. The network has maintained 10 years of uninterrupted uptime.
To mark the milestone, Cointelegraph reviewed the five largest corporate Ether (ETH) holders, underscoring Ether’s rising status as a strategic reserve asset among public companies.
Source: Ethereum Foundation
Publicly-listed Bitcoin (BTC) mining company, BitMine Immersion Technologies, is the largest ETH treasury firm, holding 625,000 ETH or 0.52% of the total circulating ETH supply. The miner previously announced plans to acquire up to 5% of Ether’s supply, signaling more incoming investments after the firm announced a $1 billion stock repurchase program on Tuesday.
In second place is Nasdaq-listed Sharplink, which holds 438,190 ETH as its “primary” treasury reserve asset. The firm purchased $290 million worth of Ether between July 21 and July 27 at an average price of $3,756.
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Bit Digital follows as the third-largest corporate ETH holder, with a total of 100,603 ETH in its holdings. On July 7, the firm announced its transition to an Ethereum treasury strategy, which included a $172 million public equity raise and the conversion of its balance sheet from Bitcoin to Ether.
ETH held by Ethereum treasury companies. Source: Standard Chartered
Ethereum node validator BTCS Inc. comes in fourth place, with 70,028 in total ETH holdings. BTCS announced the closing of a $10 million convertible note issuance program on Monday, bringing the firm’s total raised capital to $207 million for 2025 alone.
GameSquare Holdings Inc., a media and tech firm, rounds out the top five with 12,913 ETH. The company has earmarked $250 million for a broader crypto treasury management strategy.
Related: 35 companies now hold at least 1,000 Bitcoin as corporate adoption booms
Wall Street is “warming up” to Ether as a treasury reserve asset
According to Gracy Chen, CEO of crypto exchange Bitget, institutions increasingly view Ethereum as the next major digital reserve asset.
“Given the high likelihood that the world’s assets will be tokenized on the blockchain, Ethereum has a competitive advantage in capturing a large share of this market,” Chen told Cointelegraph. “Drawing on this, institutional investors consider Ethereum the next emerging treasury asset after Bitcoin.”
“Wall Street firms and the broader TradFi world are just warming up to the idea of Ethereum as a treasury reserve asset,” she added.
Ether treasury acquisitions have accelerated sharply in recent months. Since June, crypto treasury firms have purchased more than 1% of ETH’s circulating supply, outpacing Bitcoin-focused firms during the same period, according to a report published Tuesday by Standard Chartered.
The report noted that Ethereum-focused treasury firms may hold up to 10% of the total supply in the long term, citing regulatory arbitrage opportunities and programmable yield via staking and DeFi.
Combined with strong inflows into US spot Ether exchange-traded funds, the continued institutional accumulation may help push ETH above the $4,000 level — Standard Chartered’s year-end price target.
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