Last Friday, Ark Invest deployed close to $47 million across three of its ETFs, purchasing stakes in Coinbase and BitMine Immersion Technologies. Across its ETFs, Ark Invest spent roughly $29.8 million on Coinbase shares, led by its main ARKK fund, which contributed approximately $22.6 million, according to the closing price on Friday. Coinbase shares fell 16.7% that day after reporting quarterly results that missed estimates, per The Block’s Coinbase stock price page. That same session saw the ETFs increase their holdings in BitMine Immersion Technologies, the Ethereum treasury company co-founded by Tom Lee, where ARKK again took the lead, investing about $11.6 million in BMNR shares. These moves follow earlier activity this week shared by Cryptopolitan, when Ark Invest acquired $20 million of BitMine equity on Monday and added $15.3 million more on Tuesday, bringing its five-day total to roughly $52.4 million in BitMine stock. To date, BitMine controls 625,000 ETH, making it the biggest public Ethereum treasury, and targets staking 5% of all circulating ether. Even with its expanding reserve, BitMine shares declined around 8.6% on Friday to close at $31.68, extending a slide to over 31% in the last month, per Yahoo Finance. Corporate treasuries and ETFs accelerate ETH accumulation According to a Standard Chartered Bank report released Tuesday, corporate treasur y ve hicles have accumulated 1.26 million ETH, about 1% of the supply, in the past two months, nearly rivaling the 2 million ETH amassed by Ethereum ETFs over the same span and representing the highest ETF buying streak on record for ETH. “ETH treasury companies are just getting started; they will likely 10x from here,” said Geoffrey Kendrick, global head of digital assets research at Standard Chartered. He said they could hold 10% of ether. Bitcoin treasuries cover about 4.4% of BTC, with Strategy alone holding almost 3%. He observed that ETH treasury firms enjoy annual staking returns of approximately 3% and can leverage DeFi protocols, capabilities largely unavailable to U.S. ETFs. Kendrick also highlighted how regulatory arbitrage drives investors in jurisdictions with restricted crypto options to tap public firms for ETH exposure. “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,” he wrote. BitMine, SharpLink lead ETH treasury race BitMine remains the largest ETH treasury but still needs about 6 million more ETH to hit its 5% goal. BTCS, GameSquare, and The Ether Machine also launched Ethereum strategies this year. SharpLink Gaming (SBET), backed by ConsenSys and Joe Lubin, is now the second-largest ETH treasury with over 438,000 ETH after buying 77,210 ETH—more than the network creates in a month. In a separate report, Cryptopolitan noted that Ark Invest selected Canadian blockchain infrastructure provider SOL Strategies Inc. to serve as the staking partner for its Solana validators, prompting a migration of its Digital Asset Revolutions Fund’s validation services to SOL Strategies’ network. The decision, disclosed in a press release by SOL Strategies (previously Cypherpunk Holdings), underscores the firm’s broader role in Solana infrastructure development and investment services. “Being selected as ARK’s Solana staking provider represents significant validation of our institutional infrastructure and market position,” said Leah Wald, chief executive of SOL Strategies. “Cathie Wood and her team at ARK are widely respected for their crypto and tech investing. Their confidence in our validator capabilities reinforces our commitment to providing best-in-class staking solutions for institutional clients.” Cryptopolitan Academy: Want to grow your money in 2025? Learn how to do it with DeFi in our upcoming webclass. Save Your Spot
