Standard Chartered’s Geoffrey Kendrick believes Ethereum DATs have a better opportunity than Bitcoin and Solana DATs because of ETH’s staking capabilities.
BitMine Immersion Holdings purchased 15,427 ETH worth approximately $69 million on Saturday through Galaxy Digital. On-chain data shows the treasury company holds around 2.1 million Ethereum worth roughly $9.6 billion at current prices.
Data from Arkham Intelligence shows a series of large blockchain transactions, including 3,247 ETH worth $14.55 million, 3,258 ETH worth $14.6 million, 4,494 ETH worth $20.06 million, and 4,428 ETH worth $19.77 million. The data suggests coordinated OTC transfers, which allow the treasury company to accumulate large amounts of ETH without disrupting open market prices.
BitMine has aggressively accumulated Ethereum over recent weeks, with ETH accounting for nearly the entire of its $9.6 billion portfolio. The company has other tokens in its balance sheet, including minor holdings of MKR and a flurry of other experimental tokens with only a few thousand dollars in value.
The Ethereum treasury firm also received 46,255 ETH worth $201 million from a BitGo wallet last week across three addresses. Earlier this month, BitMine added another 80,325 ETH worth around $358 million from FalconX and Galaxy Digital.
BitMine leads the pack of Ethereum treasury companies, with SharpLink following with 837,230 ETH worth around $3.74 billion. Coinbase’s treasury sits at
136,782 ETH, while the Ethereum Foundation holds approximately 225,000 ETH. CoinGecko data shows that corporate and institutional entities now collectively hold about 3.5 million ETH worth around $15.73 billion.
On Tuesday, Standard Chartered’s global head of digital assets research, Geoffrey Kendrick, said that Ethereum could emerge as the biggest winner from the rise of digital asset treasuries (DATs). He believes that the digital asset’s proof-of-stake blockchain is better positioned than that of either Bitcoin or Solana.
Kendrick also mentioned that he’s concerned about the fate of crypto treasury companies because of falling market-to-net asset value (mNAV) marks. He believes that Ethereum entities have a better chance of succeeding.
The bank’s official said he expects ETH to have a higher mNAV because of its staking opportunities, which allow companies to generate yield with their holdings. He argued that ETH DATs can capture ETH’s 3% staking yield.
“I think the ETH DATs have the highest probability of being sustainable, and therefore, ETH buying by DATs can continue at pace. BitMine, SharpLink, and Ether Machine are all important. BitMine’s Tom Lee estimates that staking yield should add 0.6 to ETH DAT mNAVs alone.”
-Geoffrey Kendrick, Global Head of Digital Assets Research at Standard Chartered.
Kendrick also argued that Ethereum DATs have more potential because they had a chance to become more established before new rules by the Nasdaq that require companies to ask for shareholder approval before establishing crypto treasuries. He noted that BitMine doesn’t trade on the stock exchange and has already had its strategy pre-approved by shareholders.
The Standard Chartered researcher added that Ethereum DATs have bought more than 2.6% of all ETH in circulation since June. He also noted that spot ETH exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have purchased another 2.3% during the same period, helping the digital asset reach a new all-time high of $4,955 on August 24. According to the report, BitMine alone is targeting 5% of the ETH circulation.
The researcher also mentioned earlier that Ethereum DATs are more investable since they offer a stronger case for investors than U.S. spot ETFs, which lack staking opportunities. Kendrick still expects Ethereum to reach $7,500 by year-end and $25,000 by 2028, calling the recent drawback a great buying opportunity.
At the time of publication, Ethereum is down 1.16% for the day despite the news and is exchanging hands at around $4,466.50. The digital asset has also dropped by 5.25% in the last 7 days, but is still up nearly 4% for the month.
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