Ethereum’s Institutional Chill: DAT Purchases Plummet 81% in Three Months

Institutional appetite for Ethereum just hit a wall. Data tracking Digital Asset Traders (DATs) reveals a staggering drop in ETH acquisitions—an 81% nosedive from August to November.

The Big Freeze

Forget steady accumulation; this is a hard pivot. The numbers don't lie. The 81% plunge signals a dramatic shift in strategy from some of the market's most watched players. It's a cold front moving through what many assumed was a warming institutional landscape.

Reading the Tea Leaves

What spooks the smart money? Is it macro jitters, regulatory fog, or simply profit-taking after a run? The silence from these quarters is deafening. They're not selling en masse, but they've certainly stopped buying with the same conviction. It leaves the retail crowd holding the bag—and asking questions.

Ethereum's Next Act

This isn't a death knell; it's a reality check. The network keeps humming, developers keep building. But for the price narrative? It loses a key engine. Institutional flows were the fairy dust for the last bull run. Now, the market must find a new story—perhaps one built on actual utility, not just financialization. A novel concept for Wall Street, we know.

The takeaway? When the so-called 'smart money' hits pause, everyone feels the draft. It's a stark reminder that in crypto, the only constant is change—and the occasional cynical retreat to 'wait and see' by folks who preach long-term vision right up until the quarterly report is due.

Ethereum DATs experiencing structural pressure?

Per Bitwise’s associate Shannon, the slowdown in corporate buying could negatively impact Ether markets if the downturn continues, and the structural bid beneath the market may weaken even further. 

“As long as the net difference between DAT purchases and new ETH supply remains positive, the DAT theme continues to provide a structural bid,” Shannon said. “This pressure is already visible in falling mNAVs and shrinking coin purchases.”

mNAV, or market-cap-to-net-asset-value, shows the premium or discount at which the public market values their crypto holdings. Shannon said the steeply collapsing purchase volume, coupled with a steady monthly issuance of roughly 80,000 Ether, could mean demand may soon dip below new supply.

Standard Chartered’s global head of digital assets research, Geoff Kendrick, sees it much differently, writing in an investor note back in August that DATs must maintain an mNAV above 1 to continue buying assets sustainably. 

“This matters because sustainable DATs need an mNAV above 1 if they are to continue buying underlying assets,” Kendrick surmised, talking about the significant impact these companies now have on digital currencies. 

“With DATs holding 8% of all BTC, 4.74% of ETH, and 2.98% of SOL, DATs’ success has significant implications for coin prices,” he wrote.

Kendrick said investors will likely see treasury companies differentiate themselves based on their ability to raise cash, the size of their balance sheets, and their capacity to generate yield from staking. He propounded that Ether and solana have native staking returns, so their treasuries have an advantage over Bitcoin-focused firms. 

“I think the ETH DATs have the highest probability of being sustainable, and therefore, ETH buying by DATs can continue at the same pace. BitMine, Sharplink, and The Ether Machine are all important. BitMine’s Tom Lee estimates that staking yield should add 0.6 to ETH DAT mNAVs alone,” the StanChart head of digital assets research concluded.

BitMine still leads as top Ether-holding company

Looking at the latest Ether treasury holding rankings, BitMine expanded its lead at the top last week by acquiring an additional 96,798 Ether, increasing its total to 3.73 million tokens worth over $10 billion at current prices, according to a disclosure released on Monday.

The next largest holder on the list is SharpLink with 859,853 Ether, followed by The Ether Machine with 496,712 coins. Bit Digital is fourth with 153,546, while Coinbase Global comes fifth with 148,715. FG Nexus sits in eighth position with 40,005 coins, having sold over $33 million in ETH on November 20.

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