Ethereum treasury firms are 'just getting started' — could 10x holdings to 10% of all ETH, says Standard Chartered

Corporate treasury companies have quickly built up Ethereum holdings, buying 1.26 million ETH — 1% of all ETH in circulation — in just two months, according to a new Standard Chartered Bank report published Tuesday. The bank said this pace nearly matches the 2 million ETH bought by exchange-traded funds during the same period, marking the strongest buying streak on record for ETH ETFs.

"ETH treasury companies are just getting started; they will likely 10x from here," said the report written by Standard Chartered's global head of digital assets research, Geoffrey Kendrick, predicting that such firms could ultimately hold 10% of all ETH in circulation. By comparison, Bitcoin treasury companies currently hold about 4.4% of the total BTC supply, with Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) alone holding nearly 3%.

Kendrick said Ethereum treasuries offer stronger upside potential than Bitcoin-focused ones, thanks to their ability to earn staking rewards (around 3%) and access decentralized finance (DeFi) leverage — features that ETFs, particularly in the U.S., still cannot capture.

He attributes the growth to regulatory arbitrage, with investors using publicly listed companies as a vehicle to gain exposure to ETH in jurisdictions where direct access remains limited. “As a result, these companies’ market cap tends to trade above the net asset value (NAV) of the assets held, at a so-called positive NAV multiple," Kendrick noted.

The largest ETH treasury company so far is BitMine (ticker BMNR) , which aims to accumulate 5% of total ETH — implying net buying of around 6 million ETH from current levels. Other firms with announced ETH-focused strategies this year include BTCS (ticker BTCS), GameSquare Holdings (GAME), and The Ether Machine. 

SharpLink Gaming (SBET), backed by Consensys and Ethereum founder Joe Lubin, is now the second-largest ETH holder with over 438,000 ETH after its latest round of purchases, according to onchain analytics. Notably, SharpLink's latest acquisition of another 77,210 ETH represents more than all the ether issued last month.

"Beyond BMNR and the other existing holders, several new entrants are likely over time," Kendrick said. "In the Bitcoin treasury space, it took several years for MSTR [Strategy] to spawn significant buying by imitators. For ETH this is likely to happen more quickly, as the broader concept of corporate holdings of digital assets is already accepted."

If BMNR succeeds in hitting its 5% goal, Kendrick said it would be “fair to assume” that ETH treasury companies as a whole could eventually hold more than 10% of the token’s circulating supply.

ETH has outperformed BTC in recent weeks, with the ETH/BTC ratio climbing from 0.018 in April to 0.032 — a move Kendrick partly attributes to strong buying from treasury firms and record inflows into ETH ETFs .

"If the flows can continue, ETH may be able to break above the key $4,000 level (our current end-2025 forecast)," he said. The world's second-largest cryptocurrency is currently trading at around $3,850, according to The Block's ETH price page .