Corporate treasuries held at least 966,304 ether tokens worth almost $3.5 billion at the end of last month, Reuters reported Tuesday (Aug. 5), citing an analysis of regulatory filings and disclosures. That’s up from fewer than 116,000 at the close of 2024.
Ether — the second largest cryptocurrency after bitcoin — has become popular with companies seeking active returns, according to the report. Bitcoin depends solely on price appreciation, while ether can be used in crypto staking.
That’s a practice in which investors lock up their tokens to support the Ethereum network in return for rewards, with yields of 3% to 4% possible, the report said.
“Ether balances growth potential with the legitimacy of a blue-chip asset,” said Sam Tabar, CEO of Bit Digital, which has ether on its balance sheet, per the report. “It is large enough to be institutional grade, yet early enough in adoption to benefit from future upside.”
Ether also powers the Ethereum blockchain and supports a range of applications such as lending platforms, trading protocols and stablecoins, making it a critical part of the crypto financial system, the report said.
However, there are obstacles to wider adoption, such as regulatory uncertainty and price volatility, which impact the ether’s fair value, per the report.
Meanwhile, companies in the United States are adopting stablecoins for cross-border payments.
Cryptocurrency and traditional finance have spent much of the last decade in parallel. Stablecoins, which are blockchain-based tokens pegged to fiat currencies, emerged in the crypto market as liquidity and arbitrage vehicles. As that was happening, banks and payment networks continued investing in updating their legacy rails, without much overlap between the two worlds.
“That separation is now collapsing,” PYMNTS reported Monday (Aug. 4). “Cross-border payments represent a sprawling and inefficient market, with most transactions consisting of B2B flows. The inefficiencies in this system include multi-day settlement times, high fees, limited transparency and heavy reliance on intermediaries.”
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