In brief
- Newly formed company The Ether Machine has purchased 15,000 Ethereum (ETH) at a cost of $56.9 million, bringing its ETH holdings to $1.28 billion.
- This makes it one of the largest ETH treasuries, just behind Bitmine Immersion Tech and SharpLink Gaming and ahead of the Ethereum Foundation.
- Investors are increasingly looking to invest in Ethereum via corporate treasuries, instead of directly or via ETFs, due to benefits including access to staking, experts told Decrypt.
The Ether Machine has purchased nearly 15,000 ETH at a cost of $56.9 million, making the newly formed company one of the largest holders of Ethereum, overtaking the Ethereum Foundation itself.
This brings the total Ethereum purchased and committed by The Ether Machine to 334,757 ETH, with up to $407,000,000 remaining for additional ETH stockpiling.
The Ether Machine sprang into existence only last week, via a merger between The Ether Reserve, LLC and publicly traded blank check firm Dynamix Corporation. It plans to list on the NASDAQ in Q4.
Funded by startup capital from Andrew Keys, the former head of business development for crypto software giant ConsenSys, the new company aims to provide institutional-grade exposure to Ethereum, with plans to grow its initial stockpile via staking and DeFi.
The Ether Machine now holds $1.28 billion worth of ETH altogether, making it the 3rd largest corporate ETH holder. Bitmine Immersion Tech and SharpLink Gaming hold 1st and 2nd place, with holdings of $2.40 billion and $1.68 billion, respectively, at today’s prices.
Meanwhile, the non-profit Ethereum Foundation, which maintains and decides the future direction of the blockchain, holds just $899.8 million worth of Ethereum.
ETH corporate treasuries take off
Ethereum is seeing a radical shift from being held by ETFs to corporate treasuries like The Ether Machine.
According to data analysis provided by crypto exchange CEX.io, at the start of 2025, spot Ether ETFs outweighed corporate treasuries with a ratio of more than 100 to 1, or $12.1B versus $120M. However, by July, the ratio had dropped to less than 4 to 1, with treasuries climbing to $6.2 billion and ETFs reaching $21.4 billion.
A CEX.io spokesperson told Decrypt that the trend can be attributed to “a deeper shift toward native, utility-driven adoption,” explaining the potential limitations of holding Ethereum via ETFs.
“For Ethereum specifically, U.S. spot ETFs currently don’t support staking, making direct holdings more attractive since companies can earn rewards and actively engage with the network, rather than passively holding ETF shares.”
Ethereum staking enables investors to receive a variable yield from their crypto, somewhat similar to a bank account or stock that pays dividends.