$1 Billion Ethereum DAT Collapses as Asian Investors Pull Plug Amid Market Carnage
Digital asset dreams shattered as billion-dollar Ethereum deal evaporates overnight.
The Asian Money Exodus
When the markets turned south, so did the investors—pulling $1 billion in committed capital faster than you can say 'risk management.' The much-hyped Ethereum DAT, once touted as a landmark institutional adoption story, now joins the graveyard of crypto ambitions that couldn't survive a little volatility.
Timing is Everything (Except When It's Not)
Asian investment syndicates had positioned this as their flagship Web3 play—until reality bit harder than their appetite for digital assets. Turns out even billion-dollar portfolios get cold feet when charts start bleeding red. Another reminder that in crypto, 'long-term vision' often means 'until the next major correction.'
The Institutional Mirage
Wall Street veterans are probably nodding knowingly—another 'transformative' crypto project meets its maker when actual market conditions appear. Because nothing tests conviction like watching nine figures evaporate before the morning coffee cools.
Ethereum DAT Project By Leading Asian Whales Has Been Canned
Last month, Bloomberg reported that some influential investors in Asia were gearing up to launch an Ethereum trust. The group involved the likes of Li Lin, founder of Huobi cryptocurrency exchange, Shen Bo, co-founder of Fenbushi Capital, and Xiao Feng, chairman and CEO of HashKey Group.
At the time, the investors were in talks to acquire a NASDAQ-listed entity to facilitate the digital-asset treasury (DAT) structure, with the project already boasting a backing of $1 billion.
According to a report from Wu Blockchain, however, that project has now been cancelled. “The US$1 billion Ethereum DAT proposed by leading Asian crypto investors has been shelved, and the committed capital has been returned,” wrote Wu Blockchain.
Of the $1 billion backing, $200 million came from investment firm Avenir Capital alone, of which Huobi’s Li is a chairman. Another $500 million was provided by Asian institutional investors like HongShan Capital Group.
Popularized by Michael Saylor’s Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), a DAT company is a public entity that makes a digital-asset reserve its main business. Earlier, firms mostly focused on using Bitcoin in this type of strategy, but 2025 has seen a push into altcoins like Ethereum and Solana.
BitMine, which is currently the largest ETH DAT and second-largest overall after Strategy, adopted its ETH reserve strategy in June of this year. According to a Monday press release, the company holds 3,559,879 tokens, bought for a total of $11.1 billion.
Unlike BitMine, the Asia-led DAT project appears to have been halted before it could launch. “Sources said the plan was halted mainly due to the market downturn following the sharp October 11 sell-off,” revealed Wu Blockchain.
Ethereum has been in freefall alongside the wider cryptocurrency sector since this crash, with its price being down over 38% compared to its October high. As a result, BitMine’s holdings have gone underwater. At the current exchange rate, its holdings are valued at $10.3 billion, roughly 7% below cost basis.
The ETH network as a whole has its average cost basis (“Realized Price“) located at $2,316, as CryptoQuant community analyst Maartunn has pointed out in an X post.
Given this, the average investor is still in a profit of about 24%. Earlier, when Ethereum was trading around its high, profitability reached an extreme level. So compared to that, there has been a bit of a cooldown. “Momentum is cooling off as the market takes a breather,” noted Maartunn.
ETH Price
Ethereum has suffered another 5% drop in the past day that has sent its price to $2,880.
