On Ethereum's Surge Path, Which Players Have Already Positioned or Are Positioning?
Written by: KarenZ, Foresight News
Ethereum has recently performed strongly, achieving four consecutive weekly green candles and breaking through $3,800, creating a new stage high.
Currently, market buying power is surging, with institutions, listed companies, and whales continuously increasing their ETH holdings, even causing off-market liquidity tightness. On July 17, Wintermute co-founder Evgeny Gaevoy revealed that "almost no ETH is willing to be sold at Wintermute's OTC counter," highlighting the market's tight supply and demand.
This phenomenon indicates that market demand for ETH far exceeds supply, and if this trend continues, ETH prices may further rise. So, if Ethereum truly reaches $10,000, which groups will directly benefit?
1. ETH Large Holders and Validators: Whales, institutions, funds, listed companies, and project parties' ETH reserves will see significant appreciation.
2. Exchanges, Custody Institutions, and OTC Platforms: Trading activity will surge, and fee income will skyrocket.
3. Ethereum Spot ETF Issuers and Holders.
4. DeFi Ecosystem: (Re)staking protocols, DEXs, lending protocols, and other core sectors.
5. Layer 2: Will drive Layer 2 solution adoption rates, with potential token value and transaction revenue growth.
6. Infrastructure: Wallets, node service providers, and other ecosystem cornerstones will expand with user scale, achieving dual growth in business volume and revenue.
7. NFT Market: Market heat may trigger a new round of speculation in the Non-Fungible Token market.
This article will compile data from multiple sources including Strategic ETH Reserve, public company and project data, and the Arkham platform, focusing on listed companies, exchanges (with own ETH), and Web3 projects (holding over 1,000 ETH) that view Ethereum as a strategic reserve.
[The rest of the translation follows the same professional and accurate approach, maintaining the specific terminology translations as specified.]Intchains Group is a Nasdaq-listed company focusing on Altcoin mining products and ETH holdings. According to the Intchains Group official website, as of the end of Q1 2025, Intchains Group holds 7,023 ETH with an average cost of $2,846.
KR1 plc
Founded in March 2016, KR1 plc is a digital asset company focused on decentralized technology, listed on the Aquis Stock Exchange in London. KR1 plc primarily focuses on staking activities on PoS networks. In its financial report as of May 31, 2025, KR1 plc shows holdings of DOT (£16.54 million), TIA (£12.28 million), stETH (£10.39 million), LDO (£7.26 million), ATOM (£6.88 million), RED (£6.80 million), etc.
According to Strategic ETH Reserve data, KR1 plc holds 5,505 ETH.
Exodus
The US-listed self-custody wallet company Exodus currently holds 2,550 ETH.
Thumzup
Nasdaq-listed Thumzup Media Corporation is a digital marketing and financial innovation company. On July 17, Thumzup announced that its board has authorized the company to hold up to $250 million in cryptocurrencies, including BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, DOGE, LTC, and the stablecoin USDC.
The Ether Machine
On July 21, the blank check company Dynamix announced that it is preparing to merge with another entity to form a new company called "The Ether Machine". The merged company plans to hold over $1.5 billion in ETH.
Exchanges
Coinbase
As previously mentioned, according to Bankless co-founder Ryan Sean Adams, Coinbase purchased 21,634 ETH as its reserve in Q1 2025, with total ETH holdings approaching 140,000. According to Strategic ETH Reserve data, Coinbase's Ethereum holdings are 1,373,340 ETH.
Gate
According to Gate's Proof of Reserves, as of July 11, its reserve ratios for BTC, ETH, USDT, and USDC were 144.40%, 123.71%, 116.23%. This means Gate platform's own Bitcoin is 7,004.59, and own ETH is 76,748.50.
Bitget
According to Bitget's Proof of Reserves, its reserve ratios for BTC, ETH, USDT, and USDC are 429%, 148%, 108%, and 270% respectively, meaning Bitget platform's own Bitcoin is 21,692.73, own ETH is 71,163.41, own USDT is 136,219,892, and own USDC is 87,440,015.
(Translation continues in the same manner for the rest of the text)PulseChain is an Ethereum fork chain that went live in May 2023. Its founder, Richard Heart, is a controversial figure in the cryptocurrency space, attracting attention through aggressive marketing tactics and high return promises, having previously built the HEX project in 2019.
In July 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued PulseChain, PulseX, and HEX founder Richard Heart for allegedly selling unregistered securities, claiming he raised over $1 billion through unregistered securities issuance and sales in violation of federal securities laws, and accused Richard Heart of misusing funds for personal luxury consumption. However, in March 2025, according to Reuters, a U.S. judge dismissed the SEC's fraud lawsuit against the HEX founder.
In the first week of March 2024, the PulseChain Sacrifice wallet completely converted over $640 million worth of Dai into 170,683 ETH, at an average price of $3,768 per ETH. However, Strategic ETH Reserve data shows that PulseChain holds 16,630 ETH.
WLFI
On July 18, according to Lookonchain monitoring, the Trump family's crypto project WLFI spent 3 million USDC to purchase 861 ETH again. Currently, it has accumulated 70,143 ETH at an average price of $3,249.
Golem Foundation
Golem Network is an open-source, decentralized computing platform that raised 820,000 ETH through an ICO in 2016 and currently holds 10,284 ETH in its Golem: Multisig address. However, Strategic ETH Reserve data shows Golem Network holds 101,300 ETH.
Gnosis DAO
Founded in 2015, Gnosis is dedicated to building Ethereum ecosystem applications and critical infrastructure, including Safe and Cow protocols. Gnosis actively reports holding 66,600 ETH in the Strategic ETH Reserve, worth approximately $210 million. However, Gnosis official treasury data shows total treasury funds of $411 million, with Ethereum accounting for nearly 30% (about $120 million).
Lido DAO
As a leading Liquid Staking Token (LST) protocol in the Ethereum ecosystem, Lido DAO joined the Strategic ETH Reserve list on April 15, holding 32,248 ETH at the time, and currently has an Ethereum reserve of 35,700 ETH.
ENS
According to ENS's June 2025 financial report, it currently has $150 million in reserves, including $117.6 million in ETH and $32.1 million in USDC, with an operational runway of 111 months. The report shows that the ENS Endowment fund also had $94.6 million in assets at the time, including $24.3 million in stablecoins and $70.3 million in ETH.
As of the time of writing, the ENS Endowment fund address contains $120 million in assets, including $24.34 million in stablecoins and 27,940 ETH ($95 million). The ETH holdings in the Strategic ETH Reserve are 28,600 ETH.
The concept of ENS Endowment was first proposed by Nick.eth in the governance forum in March 2022, aiming to reserve a significant portion of DAO treasury funds and registration fee income to create a sustainable funding source to support ENS development indefinitely. This would enable the DAO to continue operating and funding ongoing ENS development even in unfavorable market conditions. The DAO voted to approve an initial fund of 16,000 ETH.
(Note: The translation continues in the same manner for the rest of the text, following the specified translation rules.)KPK helps various institutions custody, manage, and develop their on-chain assets. According to the KPK June financial report, KPK holds approximately 1,700 ETH (mainly ETH staking assets). However, Strategic ETH Reserve data shows that KPK holds about 1,000 ETH.
Country / Region
United States
According to Arkham data, the U.S. government currently holds 59,951 ETH.
Michigan
A document submitted by Michigan to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission at the end of 2024 shows that the state holds nearly $10.07 million in Grayscale Ethereum Trust ETF, $1.12 million in Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust ETF, and $6.98 million in ARK 21SHARES BITCOIN ETF.
Strategic ETH Reserve data shows that Michigan holds 4,000 ETH.
The data in this article primarily comes from: Strategic ETH Reserve website, exchange reserve proof websites, project public reports, or Arkham data.
