Ether Bigger Beneficiary of Digital Asset Treasuries Than Bitcoin or Solana: StanChart
The strongest DATs will be those with cheap funding, scale, and staking yield, which favors ether and solana treasuries over bitcoin, analyst Geoff Kendrick said.
Sep 15, 2025, 2:24 p.m.
Digital asset treasuries (DATs), publicly traded firms that hold crypto on their balance sheets, have been hit hard in recent weeks as their market NAVs (mNAVs) slid below 1, Standard Chartered’s Geoff Kendrick said in a new report.
Looking ahead, ether (ETH) DATs appear to have the most staying power thanks to staking yield, regulatory clarity, and room to grow, argued Kendrick.
The mNAV ratio is crucial. When it falls, these firms lose the incentive (and sometimes the ability) to keep buying crypto, threatening a key source of demand for bitcoin BTC$114,899.84, ether and solana (solana).
Kendrick said that the next phase for DATs will be one of differentiation. The winners will be those that can raise funds at the lowest cost, achieve scale that draws liquidity and investor attention, and, crucially, earn staking yield. That last point tilts the playing field toward ether and solana treasuries over bitcoin, which lacks yield.
Market saturation is also at play. Strategy’s success as the flagship BTC treasury has inspired a flood of copycats, nearly 90 at last count, who together now hold more than 150,000 BTC, up sixfold this year, the analyst noted.
But if mNAVs stay below 1, Standard Chartered expects consolidation. For BTC treasuries, that could mean firms like Saylor’s Strategy buying out rivals rather than buying new bitcoin on the open market, a coin rotation, not fresh demand.
Ether treasuries look better positioned. They have been aggressively accumulating, with 3.1% of ETH’s circulating supply purchased since June. The largest player, Bitmine (BMNR) is well-placed to keep adding to its 2 million ETH stack, the report said.
For crypto markets, this matters. DAT buying has been a key driver of bitcoin and ether prices in 2025. But with BTC treasuries facing consolidation pressure and solana treasuries still relatively small, Standard Chartered sees ETH as the likely beneficiary going forward.
Read more: Strategy’s S&P 500 Snub Is a Cautionary Signal for Corporate Bitcoin Treasuries: JPMorgan
AI Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk’s full AI Policy.
More For You
PEPE Price Sinks 6% Amid Market Sell-Off as Whales Accumulate
The drop in PEPE’s value was part of a wider crypto market drawdown, with the CoinDesk 20 index losing 1.8% of its value, and memecoins being especially hard hit.
What to know:
- PEPE, a meme-inspired cryptocurrency, has lost nearly 6% of its value in the last 24 hours, dropping to a low of $0.0000107.
- The drop in PEPE’s value was part of a wider crypto market drawdown, with the CoinDesk 20 index losing 1.8% of its value, and memecoins being especially hard hit.
- Despite the short-term price drop, data from Nansen shows that large investors are still accumulating PEPE, with the top 100 non-exchange addresses holding PEPE on the Ethereum network increasing their holdings by 1.38% over the past week.
