WuBlockchain Weekly: Ethereum Micro - Strategy Surges and Cathie Wood Deeply Involved, Solana Releases New Roadmap, etc

Jul 25, 2025

1. Ethereum Micro — Strategy Surges and Cathie Wood Deeply Involved link

Since 2025, four US — listed companies, represented by SharpLink Gaming, Bitmine Immersion Tech, Bit Digital, and BTCS Inc., have constructed a set of “ETH micro — strategies” different from the holding paradigm of MicroStrategy by massively purchasing ETH and staking it on the chain. This strategy has not only reshaped the corporate balance — sheet structure but also promoted the narrative transformation of Ethereum in the capital market. This article focuses on ten key issues and systematically combs the core logics of the four companies in terms of capital paths, on — chain deployment, strategic drivers, and risk governance.

As of July 21, 2025, SharpLink Gaming, Bitmine Immersion Tech, Bit Digital, and BTCS Inc. are among the US — listed companies with the largest ETH holdings. SharpLink Gaming holds about 358,000 ETH, Bitmine follows closely with about 300,700 ETH; Bit Digital holds about 120,300 ETH, and BTCS Inc. discloses a holding of 31,900 ETH. The current market values of ETH held by SharpLink, Bitmine, Bit Digital, and BTCS (calculated at a unit price of about $3,573) are approximately $1.278 billion, $1.074 billion, $429 million, and $114 million respectively. Compared with the latest estimated market values of the respective companies ($2.9 billion, $3.4 billion, $1.23 billion, and $153 million respectively), the proportions of ETH assets are approximately: SharpLink: about 44%; Bitmine: about 32%; Bit Digital: about 35%; BTCS: about 74%.

Currently, SharpLink and Bitmine have initially formed the market perception as representative companies of the “ETH micro — strategy”.

SharpLink was originally a sports — prediction and interactive — game technology provider. Since 2025, the company has gradually increased its ETH holdings through PIPE and ATM financing methods and regarded it as the core configuration of the balance sheet. The relevant financing is led by Consensys Software Inc., and well — known crypto — capitals such as Pantera Capital, Electric Capital, ParaFi Capital, and Galaxy Digital are involved. Board Chairman Joseph Lubin (co — founder of Ethereum and founder of Consensys) is regarded as the key driver of this strategic transformation, and his deep — rooted background in the blockchain field provides directional support for the company to introduce Ethereum reserves.

Bitmine was originally a blockchain infrastructure company, mainly engaged in the operation of Bitcoin mining sites and the sales of liquid — cooled hardware, with its business covering low — cost energy areas such as Texas and Trinidad. In June 2025, the company raised about $250 million through a private placement of 55.6 million shares at $4.50 per share to expand its ETH reserves. Crypto — capitals such as Founders Fund and Pantera Capital are among the participants. Tom Lee, the co — founder of Fundstrat, was appointed as the board chairman, leading the ETH strategic path.

It is worth noting that BitMine’s new — round financing has received strong support from Cathie Wood. On July 23, BitMine announced that it had received a total of $182 million in strategic investment from ARK Invest. Multiple funds under ARK subscribed for a total of 4,773,444 common shares of BMNR. BitMine said that it would use all the $177 million in net financing to purchase ETH to advance its long — term goal of “acquiring 5% of ETH”.

In this investment, Cathie Wood’s team stated: We believe that cryptocurrencies, especially smart contract L1 tokens, represent a unique and transformative asset class. Ethereum stands out as the foundation: it secures the on-chain economy through proof-of-stake, enables transactions, and acts as programmable collateral at the protocol layer. Given these unique characteristics, we are excited to explore investment tools and strategies tailored to this emerging field.

2. Data: Ethereum Validator Withdrawal Queue Reaches ~688,000 ETH, a New All-Time High link

As Ethereum has risen by over 160% year-to-date, the exit queue for ETH validators has surged. Data from validator queue tracking website validatorqueue shows that as of July 25, the amount of ETH in the exit queue has reached 688,000, with a total value of approximately $2.55 billion at current prices, and the exit waiting time has exceeded 11 days, a record high. Analysts believe that this round of exits is mainly due to some early stakers choosing to take profits after the price increase. At the same time, due to the continued entry of ETH treasury-like enterprises including SharpLink Gaming and Bitmine, the market still shows strong staking demand. Currently, 308,000 ETH are waiting to enter the network, with a queuing time of more than 5 days.

3. SEC Chair: Proposes “Innovation Exemption” to Boost Asset Tokenization link

After the U.S. House of Representatives passed the stablecoin bill, SEC Chairman Paul Atkins stated that the SEC is considering introducing an “innovation exception” to promote asset tokenization, aiming to encourage new trading methods and the establishment of infrastructure for tokenized securities ecosystems. He said that the SEC is studying whether to adjust policies under the existing regulatory framework to support the further development of tokenization.

4. Trump Media Group Announces Bitcoin Assets at ~$2 Billion link

Trump Media announced that its Bitcoin assets have reached approximately $2 billion, accounting for two-thirds of the company’s approximately $3 billion in current assets. This strategy is supported by $3 billion in liquidity, with an additional $300 million being used for Bitcoin-related options operations, which may be converted into spot Bitcoin in the future.

5. Western Union Explores Stablecoin Integration Services link

Devin McGranahan, CEO of global remittance giant Western Union, stated that the company is exploring the launch of stablecoin services in its digital wallet and plans to establish cooperative channels for depositing and withdrawing funds for buying and selling stablecoins. He pointed out that stablecoins have great potential in accelerating cross-border transfers, improving the efficiency of fiat currency exchange, and providing a means of value storage for countries with economic instability.

6. Fed Chair Jerome Powell Accused of Perjury Twice; Congressman Files Criminal Referral link

U.S. Representative Anna Paulina Luna submitted a criminal referral request to the Department of Justice, accusing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell of perjuring twice in his testimony and written statements regarding the Fed building renovation project. At a time when conservatives continue to pressure Trump to replace Powell as soon as possible, Trump said it is “highly unlikely” to remove him from office for now.

7. Tether Plans Return to U.S. Market, Focusing on Institutional Stablecoin Business link

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino stated that after U.S. President Donald Trump signed the stablecoin bill, Tether is planning to return to the U.S. market, focusing on institutional clients and providing stablecoin products for payment, interbank settlement and transactions. Ardoino emphasized that the company has no intention of going public, will continue to focus on emerging markets, and expand its business in the United States.

8. JPMorgan: $2 Trillion Stablecoin Market Forecast Overly Optimistic, Infrastructure Still Needs Improvement link

JPMorgan stated that the market’s forecast that the total market value of stablecoins will reach $2 trillion by 2028 is “slightly optimistic”. Although Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently put forward this goal at a hearing, saying it is expected to be achieved with legislative support, JPMorgan believes that the stablecoin infrastructure is still underdeveloped and cannot support such large-scale growth in the short term. JPMorgan expects the market to more likely double or triple in the next few years, rather than reach a level several times the current market value of $260 billion.

9. Solana Foundation, Ecosystem Partners Release “Internet Capital Market” Roadmap link

Leaders from Solana Foundation, Anza, Jito Labs, DoubleZero, Drift, and Multicoin Capital co-authored a roadmap for the “Internet Capital Market”. It proposes a future evolution direction centered on Application-Controlled Execution (ACE), aiming to build the next generation of decentralized, high-performance financial infrastructure. The roadmap points out that the current biggest challenge lies in the optimization of market microstructure, and ACE allows smart contracts to control transaction ordering with millisecond precision. In the long-term plan, Solana will implement the MCL (Multi-Leader Parallel Proposals) architecture to break through the “single proposer bottleneck”, enhance censorship resistance, and achieve synchronous responses in global markets.

10. Arthur Hayes: Year-End Targets $250,000 for Bitcoin, $10,000 for Ethereum link

Arthur Hayes predicted in his latest blog post that the target by the end of the year is $250,000 for Bitcoin and $10,000 for Ethereum. He said that the upcoming Ethereum bull market will completely set off the market, and Maelstrom, his personal family office, is engaged in all matters related to Ethereum, DeFi, and ERC — 20 “junk coins”.

QCP pointed out that the open — interest of ETH perpetual contracts surged to $28 billion in a week, and the inflow of ETH ETFs exceeded that of BTC for two consecutive days. The market expects the approval of the staked spot ETF. Driven by the GENIUS Act, institutions are re — allocating mainstream L1s such as ETH and custodial stable — coins. The market share of ETH rose to 11.6%, and the dominance rate of BTC dropped to 60%. The options market also saw bullish bets, and signs of the alt — coin season emerged.

Fundraising

Volcon purchased 280.14 Bitcoins for the first time and completed a private equity financing of over $500 million to buy Bitcoins. link
BitMine announced that it has received a total of $182 million in strategic investment from ARK Invest. link
Windtree Therapeutics announced a financing of up to $520 million, with 99% intended to purchase BNB. link
TLGY merged with StablecoinX and raised $360 million to promote the ENA treasury strategy.link
Gaia Labs received $20 million in financing, led by ByteTrade and Mirana. link
European investment app Lightyear announced the completion of a $23 million financing. link
Poseidon announced the completion of a $15 million seed round financing. link
Web3 game studio Delabs Games completed a new financing of $5.2 million. link
Questflow announced the completion of a $6.5 million seed round financing. link
Syntetika under Hilbert Group completed a $2.5 million seed round financing. link
Swiss Web3 domain registrar Freename completed a $6.5 million Series A financing. link
D-GN announced the completion of a $5 million Pre-Seed round financing. link

Learn more, check out crypto-fundraising.info.

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