Cointelegraph analyzed 16 company statements made this week and found a whopping $7.8 billion has been earmarked or used to buy crypto.
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Crypto treasury firms have begun moves to buy over $7.8 billion worth of cryptocurrencies this week, in possibly one of the biggest corporate crypto grabs in recent history — particularly for altcoins.
Cointelegraph analyzed 16 company statements since Monday, which either announced a plan to buy or raise money for crypto. Ether () was the hottest target.
At least five public companies have bought or have promised to purchase over $3 billion worth of ETH, which is around 45 times more than the amount of ETH in the past week.
The so-called crypto treasury companies are the latest Wall Street fad as traditional financiers, often restricted from being able to directly buy crypto or related exchange-traded products, look to gain exposure to the rapidly growing sector.
ETH popularity rises for corporate crypto bet
Bitcoin miner BTCS Inc. on Tuesday plans to sell up to $2 billion in shares to fund future purchases of Ether.
Joe Lubin’s Sharplink Gaming, already the second-largest Ethereum treasury firm, boosted the total further by buying up $338 million worth of ETH with two separate buys on Monday and Thursday.
The Ether Machine also scooped up the asset this week, purchasing 15,000 ETH for around $57 million.
Meanwhile, two more Ether buying companies were born this week, with the biotech firm 180 Life Sciences Corp in a $425 million deal and merchant banker Fundamental Global rebranding in a $200 million deal.
Crypto treasury companies also hot on altcoins
Crypto treasury companies were also dazzled by altcoins this week.
The biggest altcoin-buying announcement came from Tron Inc., a penny stock toy company taken over by Justin Sun’s Tron blockchain, which said on Monday it wants to to buy the blockchain’s Tron () token.
Another three companies signalled plans to buy either Solana (), Sui () or BNB () — a token with close ties to the crypto exchange Binance.
The most notable treasury firm to form this week was CEA Industries, a Canadian vape company turned after a takeover by investment firm 10X Capital and YZi Labs. The firm once described itself as the family office of Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao.
It plans to raise at least $500 million with plans to potentially unlock up to $1.25 billion to buy BNB, which was reportedly owned mainly by Zhao and Binance.
On Thursday, tech company Cemtrex Inc. it bought $1 million worth of SOL with the goal of expanding to $10 million, while on Monday, the lender Mill City Ventures III completed to pivot to buying Sui.
Crypto buying firms hold $100 billion, but not without risks
Galaxy Research analyst Will Owens in a report on Wednesday that crypto treasury companies collectively held over $100 billion worth of crypto, $93 billion of which was Bitcoin.
The business model isn’t without its risks, Owens said, and not all are equally valued as investors apply “widely different” equity premiums to a company’s net asset value.
Michael Saylor’s Strategy, for example, had an equity premium of 58%, which Owens said reflected its “scale and maturity,” while Japan’s Metaplanet traded at a premium of 179% due to its “aggressive capital formation model.”
He added that the business model “critically depends on a persistent equity premium to NAV. If the premium collapses, or worse, flips to a discount, the model begins to break.”
“The treasury company trade is becoming increasingly crowded,” Owens said. “When hundreds of firms adopt the same one-directional trade (raise equity, buy crypto, repeat), it can become structurally fragile. A downturn in any of these three variables (investor sentiment, crypto prices, and capital markets liquidity) can start to unravel the rest.”
Strategy helps boost Bitcoin buys
Bitcoin remained a popular choice for crypto treasury firms such as Strategy, with seven companies proposing or buying a total of $2.7 billion in Bitcoin.
Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, after raising $2.5 billion from its fourth preferred stock, STRC.
The UK’s The Smarter Web Company also about $26.5 million on 225 Bitcoin, and Metaplanet for around $92 million.
One new Bitcoin treasury company was spun up through the energy company ZOOZ Power Ltd. on Tuesday, with for a $180 million deal to buy Bitcoin.
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