Digital asset treasury firms have overtaken traditional exchange-traded funds as the dominant institutional holders of Ethereum.
Digital asset treasury (DAT) companies have surpassed traditional spot ETFs to become the largest institutional holder category for Ethereum. Currently, Bitmine Immersion Technologies alone represents nearly 5% of the total ETH supply, while the combined holdings of ETFs and DATs account for close to 11% of all circulating Ethereum.
This news shows a broader trend in 2026, where public companies employing digital asset treasury strategies are leading in ETH ownership compared to traditional ETF vehicles. Unlike ETFs, which merely hold assets for clients, DAT participants are actively leveraging their treasury holdings by incorporating staking to generate continuous returns from their Ethereum reserves.
DAT companies have now flipped spot ETFs as the larger holder of ETH and continue to widen the gap.
— unfolded. (@cryptounfolded) August 5, 2026
Bitmine alone accounts for close to 5% of ETH supply, and ETFs and DATs together hold close to 11% pic.twitter.com/toY4miHRKu
Bitmine, a Nasdaq-listed company, has pivoted to a major Ethereum-focused treasury model, accumulating big ETH reserves alongside staking operations via its MAVAN platform. The company operates as the leading individual participant within the DAT sector and continues expanding its validator infrastructure.
DAT companies are public firms that integrate cryptos like Ethereum into their corporate balance sheets as a primary treasury strategy. They raise capital through equity offerings and other instruments to accumulate and hold digital assets long term. As a group, these firms have now surpassed spot Ethereum ETFs to become the largest institutional holder category for ETH.
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