Vitalik Buterin Declares Ethereum Treasury ’Healthy’—But One Glaring Risk Still Looms

Ethereum's co-founder just gave the network's finances a clean bill of health—with one terrifying asterisk. Here's what keeps crypto's golden boy up at night.

The Treasury's Golden Handcuffs

Buterin's endorsement comes as ETH flirts with its 2025 highs, but insiders whisper about a ticking time bomb in the protocol's economic design. The same mechanism that funds development could become its Achilles' heel when the next bear market mauls crypto valuations.

Smart Contracts, Dumb Money?

While DeFi degens keep chasing yield like Wall Street chased subprime mortgages, Ethereum's real vulnerability isn't technical—it's psychological. The moment retail investors remember crypto winters last longer than a Twitter hype cycle, that 'healthy' treasury could hemorrhage faster than a Celsius withdrawal queue.

Key Takeaways

Buterin has backed ETH treasury firms as ‘good’ for investment options. The latest ETH price rebound triggered accelerated profit-taking compared to last week. 

Crypto treasuries have been the hottest narrative in 2025, giving ethereum [ETH] a new lifeline after a challenging 2024 and Q1 2025. 

But the trend continues to elicit mixed views from different analysts and industry leaders. 

In a recent interview with Bankless, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin was asked whether the trend is good for ETH, and he replied, 

“ETH just being an asset that companies can have as part of their treasury is good and valuable… giving people more options is good.”

But like other critics, he cautioned that excessive debt leverage could undermine the asset. 

“If you woke me up 3 years from now and told me that treasuries led to the downfall of ETH… my guess WOULD be that they turned into an overleveraged game.”

ETH treasury holdings hit $11B

As of press time, over 60 players had acquired 3 million ETH, valued at $11.8 billion, translating to 2.5% of the total supply. 

Source: Strategic ETH reserve 

BitMine Immersion Technologies (BMNR) led the camp with 833.1K ETH, worth about $3.26 billion.

SharpLinK Gaming (SBET) ranked second with 521.9K ETH (worth $2 billion) while The Ether Machine (DYNX) had $1.35 billion ETH. 

Since June, treasury demand has rivaled ETF, with the Standard Chartered noting that both avenues acquired 1.6% of ETH overall supply. 

In fact, the bank said treasury stocks are better investments than ETH ETFs. They offer exposure to staking rewards and yields. 

Meanwhile, mNAV (market price to net asset value) dropped for most firms, indicating fair value. This decline suggests a discounted buying opportunity for investors.

The indicator tracks the relative value of assets minus liabilities against the stock’s price. A reading above 1 implies a premium and bullish sentiment due to expected growth. 

In contrast, a lower reading NEAR or below 1 may imply even a better discounted buying window if the dip is due to temporary factors. However, it could also mean a lack of trust in the team. 

That said, BMNR’s mNAV was at 1.47 and SBET’s valuation was at 1.15, suggesting that they were fairly valued and investable at current levels if ETH rallies higher. 

Source: Blockworks

However, on the ETH market side, selling pressure on exchanges picked up pace as the altcoin neared $4K again. 

This contrasted with last week’s rally, which was marked by a muted exchange inflow. If profit-taking accelerates, ETH could stall at $4K for a while.

Source: CryptoQuant