Data & Insights: Billion Dollar Treasuries; Record High ETH ETF Volumes

Digging for Treasur(ies)

• Digital asset treasury (DAT) investments have emerged as the dominant force in crypto capital allocation this year, with companies raising over $15 billion through August 2025, according to data from The Block. 
  • These publicly traded entities pivot their corporate strategy to establish strategic digital asset reserves, typically purchasing and holding cryptocurrencies as treasury assets rather than traditional cash equivalents.
• The trend has gained momentum as companies announcing DAT strategies often experience significant stock price appreciation. 
  • Lion Group's recent announcement of a $600 million facility for Hyperliquid treasury led to a 20% jump in the company's shares, exemplifying the market's enthusiasm for these strategic pivots.
• While Bitcoin remains the primary asset held by these treasuries, Hyperliquid's HYPE token has emerged as an unexpected second choice, with nearly $1.5 billion secured in HYPE tokens and additional cash earmarked for future purchases. 
  • This diversification beyond Bitcoin suggests companies are exploring opportunities in altcoins, often with the support of the tokens’ foundation.
• The surge in DAT activity is also impacting the broader crypto investment landscape. 
  • Traditional crypto startup VC rounds have declined substantially, totaling just 856 deals in 2025 compared to 1,933 in the same period last year, a 56% drop. 
  • Established crypto VCs, including DCG, Paradigm, and Galaxy, have all participated in DAT investments, potentially drawing from capital pools that would traditionally fund venture deals. 
  • This reallocation suggests institutional investors view DAT strategies as a more immediate way to gain crypto exposure while benefiting from public market liquidity.
• The July peak of approximately $6.2 billion in monthly DAT raises represents the highest single-month total recorded, indicating accelerating adoption of this investment approach across public markets.

Everyone Wants ETH

• Ethereum continues to capture significant market attention this week as prices surged above $4,000, driving record-breaking activity in the spot ETF market. 
  • The confluence of price momentum, treasury announcements, and sustained institutional interest has positioned ETH as a focal point for both retail and institutional investors seeking crypto exposure.
• Ethereum ETFs recorded $18 billion in trading volume over the past week, comfortably surpassing all previous records since their launch. 
  • This surge in trading activity reflects heightened investor interest as ETH approached resistance levels and rekindled discussions about potential all-time high retests.
  • ETH's price performance above $4,000 throughout the week has generated optimism about a potential retest of its previous all-time high near $4,800. The sustained price levels have coincided with increased corporate treasury adoption and continued development activity across the Ethereum ecosystem.
• The ETF activity wasn't limited to speculative trading, with the products attracting $3.1 billion in net inflows during the same period. 
  • This substantial capital injection suggests investors are taking long-term positions as well as engaging in short-term speculation.
• However, historical patterns suggest caution may be warranted as September approaches. Since 2015, Ethereum has averaged -10% returns during September, making it historically one of the weakest months for the asset. 

Buying Back Your Tokens

• New chart alert! We’re now tracking protocol token buybacks as they have emerged as a significant trend in crypto treasury management. 
  • Our new tracking data reveals nearly $40 million in weekly buyback activity from top protocols. 
  • These strategic repurchases represent protocols using treasury funds or revenue to acquire their own tokens from the open market, typically aimed at reducing circulating supply and providing price support during market volatility.
• Hyperliquid dominated last week's buyback activity with $24 million in repurchases, while pump.fun contributed an additional $10 million to the total. 
  • This concentration among high-revenue protocols suggests buybacks are becoming a preferred capital allocation strategy for platforms generating substantial fee income.
• The rationale behind token buybacks mirrors traditional corporate share repurchase programs.
  • Protocols utilize this mechanism to signal confidence in their long-term value proposition while mechanically reducing token supply. The theory suggests that fewer tokens in circulation should increase scarcity and potentially support price appreciation, particularly during periods of sustained demand.
• However, the effectiveness of crypto token buybacks has shown mixed results across the industry. While some protocols experience temporary price benefits during active buyback periods, others face significant downward pressure once programs conclude or reduce in scale. 
  • This dependency on continued buyback activity can create unsustainable market dynamics if protocols lack sufficient revenue generation to maintain consistent repurchase levels.
• The sustainability of buyback programs ultimately depends on underlying protocol fundamentals and revenue generation. Protocols with strong fee-generating mechanisms, like those dominating current buyback volumes, may be better positioned to maintain consistent repurchase activity. 
  • Conversely, protocols relying on treasury depletion rather than operational cash flow face potential challenges if market conditions deteriorate or user activity declines.

BitCoinbase

• The synthetic BTC landscape has seen a notable shift as of late, with cbBTC being the fastest-growing synthetic BTC offering on Ethereum
  • Synthetic BTC, such as wBTC or cbBTC, are 1:1 BTC-backed tokens issued on other chains which can be used as collateral or liquidity in DeFi, without using the Bitcoin network itself.
  • Since Coinbase first launched cbBTC in September 2024, its supply has grown from 1K to over 30.5K per the time of writing.
  • Moreover, the cbBTC supply has also increased by over 160% year-to-date (YTD).
  • Meanwhile, the largest synthetic BTC product on Ethereum, wBTC, has seen its supply decline by -17% since the launch of cbBTC, while also being down -4% YTD.
• Interestingly, since cbBTC’s launch in mid-September, the total supply of synthetic BTC on Ethereum has only gone up by ~3%.
  • This indicates that while cbBTC itself has experienced notable growth over the past year, it has been more so a result of a market share shift inside the total synthetic-BTC stack, as opposed to outright net new synthetic BTC moving into Ethereum.
  • In other words, a large portion of cbBTC’s growth on Ethereum since its inception has likely been due to substitution and migrational flows away from wBTC into cbBTC.
  • The reason for cbBTC’s growth is likely due to Coinbase being able to funnel BTC holders directly into cbBTC through its existing custody, prime brokerage, and exchange rails.
  • This means fewer hops and lower operational friction than third-party mints, making cbBTC the path of least resistance for institutions and treasuries that already clear through Coinbase.

Pump It Up

• pump.fun’s generated revenue has snapped back to its pre-TGE levels over the past two weeks, averaging over $1.5 million per day in that span.
  • For context, in the two weeks following its ICO announcement on July 9, pump.fun averaged just $500K per day in revenue.
  • Even worse, throughout the last week of July, pump.fun’s average daily revenue figures fell to as low as $200K per day.
  • This slump was largely due to the rise of rival launchpad, LetsBonk.
• In July, pump.fun’s market share in terms of token launches fell from >75% to under 25% by the end of the month.
  • Meanwhile, in the same period, LetsBonk’s market share climbed and peaked at 74%, effectively flipping pump.fun in terms of token launches.
  • Yet, as we covered in last week’s newsletter, pump.fun has reclaimed almost all of its lost market share from LetsBonk and other competitors.
  • This comes as the number of tokens launched on LetsBonk collapsed from averaging over 20K tokens per day at last month’s peak to under 2K tokens per day in the last week.
• Meanwhile, since the start of August, the PUMP token is up 45%, putting its valuation at ~$3.6B as of the time of writing, just shy of its $4B ICO valuation.