As the price of Bitcoin (BTC) continues to test the $110,000 mark, various institutions and countries are accelerating the construction of "strategic Bitcoin reserves."
According to data from the American cryptocurrency exchange and custodian Gemini and the Swiss on-chain data analysis company Glassnode, currently over 30% of circulating Bitcoin is concentrated in the hands of exchanges, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), corporations, and sovereign nations, which has facilitated the establishment of the U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR).
In addition to the United States, countries such as the Czech Republic, Russia, and Switzerland have also proposed national-level reserve plans, some of which have entered the legislative discussion stage. Meanwhile, on the corporate side, Strategy's total Bitcoin holdings are close to 600,000 coins, valued at over $64 billion; at least 61 non-crypto companies have announced plans to include Bitcoin on their balance sheets, becoming a new trend among corporations.
All of this indicates that Bitcoin is gradually stepping into a "strategic asset" status similar to gold, with its scarcity, institutional holding, and market recognition continuously increasing. However, beyond Bitcoin, mainstream cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP), and Solana (SOL) are also gradually gaining recognition from institutional investors due to their technological ecosystems and application scenarios, becoming important components of their digital asset allocations.
Ethereum (ETH), as the core platform for smart contracts and decentralized applications, has become the second-largest choice in institutional digital asset allocations, thanks to its large developer community and continuously upgraded network performance.
For example, Grayscale Investments has made large-scale purchases of Ethereum through its Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE), becoming a typical representative of institutions holding Ethereum. Another typical case is Charles Schwab, a globally renowned wealth management platform, which has increased its Ethereum allocation, helping more high-net-worth clients incorporate Ethereum into their asset portfolios.
Solana, with its high-speed and low-cost blockchain performance, has become a favorite among several investment funds. In June, the large U.S. asset management company Invesco, in collaboration with crypto giant Galaxy Digital, submitted the first S-1 filing for a Solana spot staking ETF, mentioning plans to stake part of its Solana assets for additional returns. This application is the ninth Solana ETF submission in the U.S. and is seen as a clear signal of institutional long-term interest in Solana. After regulatory approval of the ETF application, Bloomberg analysts indicated that the approval probability for the Solana ETF is widely viewed positively by the market, currently exceeding 90%.
Beyond mainstream public chain assets, native tokens like HYPE from Hyperliquid have also attracted considerable attention from institutions this year.
First, the biotech company Eyenovia purchased over 1.04 million HYPE tokens through a $50 million PIPE financing, at an average price of about $34, and plans to become one of the validation nodes on the Hyperliquid network, making it the first U.S. company to incorporate HYPE into its corporate treasury and operate a validation node. Meanwhile, the Singapore trading platform Lion Group Holding has launched a facility with a scale of up to $600 million, establishing the world's largest HYPE reserve with HYPE as the core asset, and plans to use BitGo for custody and staking.
With the rapid development of the cryptocurrency industry and the continuous improvement of its ecosystem, institutional investors' understanding of digital assets is deepening. The reasons why institutions are starting to focus on token assets beyond Bitcoin are mainly as follows:
Enhanced demand for asset diversification and risk management: Bitcoin, as "digital gold," has strong value storage properties, but its price volatility remains significant and is clearly influenced by macroeconomic factors and policies. To reduce the overall risk of their investment portfolios, institutions choose to allocate part of their strategic reserves to other public chains or ecosystems, which have different value capture logic and growth potential, allowing for better risk diversification.
The growth potential of emerging ecosystems and the attractiveness of technological innovation: Ethereum's smart contract ecosystem lays the foundation, while Layer-1 projects like Solana and Hyperliquid attract a large number of developers and capital due to their high performance and unique technological routes. Institutions are focused on the growth dividends of these new ecosystems and the broad potential of future application scenarios.
The strategic value of ecosystem participation and governance rights: In addition to the appreciation of holding tokens, institutions place greater importance on obtaining network governance rights and ecosystem participation rights through holding non-Bitcoin tokens. This "substantive" participation allows institutions to take a proactive position in the development of decentralized networks, enhancing their influence and voice over the future of projects. For example, several institutions not only purchase tokens but also engage in validation nodes and staking, reflecting this trend.
From a market perspective, institutional investors expanding their strategic reserves from Bitcoin to more token assets is profoundly changing the funding structure and ecological landscape of digital assets.
In the past, funds were concentrated in Bitcoin, with some niche projects constrained by insufficient liquidity and limited market attention. With the entry of institutional funds, these emerging projects can rapidly scale, with trading activity and valuations significantly improved, driving the overall market ecosystem to become more diverse and prosperous.
Moreover, diversified asset allocation effectively reduces the systemic risk of the market. Institutions, through cross-chain asset allocation, mitigate the impacts of macroeconomic and policy fluctuations, prompting the market to exhibit greater resilience in the face of external uncertainties. Especially against the backdrop of tightening crypto regulations, institutions' prudent allocation strategies provide a "calming effect" for the market.
Additionally, institutions' strategic expansion also promotes the healthy development of project ecosystems. Financial support accelerates technological upgrades, ecosystem construction, and application implementation, strengthening the intrinsic value of tokens and user bases, which in turn attracts more capital and developers, creating a virtuous cycle.
Related: Glassnode: "The vast majority" of Bitcoin holders have an unrealized profit of $1.2 trillion
Original article: “Beyond Bitcoin (BTC): Institutional Capital Focuses on Emerging Altcoins”
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