Crypto News
Investment firm Pantera Capital predicts a year of significant winnowing among companies holding cryptocurrency on their balance sheets, with a few dominant players continuing to accumulate Bitcoin and Ethereum while smaller operations face acquisition or abandonment. The firm characterized 2026 as bringing “brutal pruning” to digital asset treasuries.
Concentration patterns have emerged most clearly in Bitcoin and Ethereum corporate holdings, where well-capitalized entities have dominated recent purchases. Pantera expects only a handful of major treasury operators will remain independent, with others absorbed by competitors or forced to exit positions.
BitMine, the largest corporate Ethereum holder, purchased 35,268 tokens for approximately $104 million in the week ending Tuesday. The company’s total position reached 4.2 million Ethereum valued at $12.9 billion, representing roughly 3.5% of Ether’s entire supply after acquiring 92,511 tokens worth $277 million since early January.
Hong Kong investment firm Trend Research has bought 41,500 Ethereum for about $126 million in 2026 so far. The firm finances purchases through decentralized borrowing on the Aave protocol rather than traditional equity or debt issuance, a funding approach unavailable to many competitors.
Strategy, the Michael Saylor-led company, dominates Bitcoin accumulation among public companies. The firm acquired 22,306 tokens last week for $2.13 billion, bringing total holdings to 709,715 Bitcoin purchased for approximately $53.9 billion at an average cost of $75,979 per coin.
Corporate Bitcoin treasuries collectively control about 1.13 million tokens according to Bitcoinquant data, roughly 5.4% of total supply. This growing concentration among a small group raises sustainability questions for smaller treasury operators, particularly those that financed purchases through debt or equity raises during earlier bull markets.
Crypto treasury firm ETHZilla sold $74.5 million in Ethereum at December’s end to settle senior secured convertible notes. The liquidation illustrates the financial strain facing less-capitalized players as competition intensifies among well-funded institutional accumulators controlling an increasing share of digital asset supply.
