For years, publicly listed companies holding Ethereum (ETH) on their balance sheets offered stock market investors a rare, regulated backdoor into crypto. But the landscape has shifted drastically. With the arrival of spot crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs), the appeal of companies that simply “buy and hold” ETH is fading fast.
According to a recent report by staking infrastructure provider Everstake, digital asset treasury companies are facing immense pressure to evolve. To survive, they are aggressively turning to staking and other yield-generating strategies just to justify their market valuations.
The ETF Threat: Why Passive ETH Holding Is No Longer Enough
The numbers paint a stark picture of the current market reality. Across six Ethereum treasury firms that publicly disclose their staking income—including names like Bit Digital, BTCS, and BitMine Immersion Technologies—staking now accounts for an average of 60% of their reported revenue.
This pivot to active yield generation comes at a critical time. Everstake’s review of 15 publicly listed companies with ETH treasury strategies revealed that loss-making firms posted a staggering combined net loss of $1.41 billion in 2025. One outlier, BitMine Immersion Technologies, even reported a massive $9.02 billion net loss over a six-month period, though this was primarily driven by unrealized losses on their digital assets rather than day-to-day operations.
The root of the problem is what Everstake co-founder Bohdan Opryshko calls a structural repricing of the market. Before spot ETFs, investors were willing to pay a premium for public companies holding crypto because it was one of the few regulated entry points available. Now that ETFs offer a much cleaner and cheaper way to get passive ETH exposure, treasury firms can no longer rely on simply holding the asset. They have to put their Ethereum to work through liquid staking, DeFi lending, and validator-level strategies just to stay relevant.
Beyond ETFs: The True Cost of Running an Ethereum Treasury
While the pressure from spot ETFs is undeniable, it isn’t the only hurdle these companies face. Running a public company comes with heavy operating expenses, financing costs, and the constant risk of shareholder dilution.
Ignacio Aguirre, Chief Marketing Officer at crypto exchange Bitget, notes that while ETFs have certainly eroded the “passive exposure premium,” investors still evaluate these firms like traditional equities. This means that a company’s balance sheet quality, overall market sentiment, and how well management executes its treasury strategy are just as crucial as the price of Ethereum itself.
Staking offers a lifeline by creating a much-needed recurring revenue stream. However, this yield must be large enough to offset the inherent volatility of ETH and the heavy overhead costs of operating a publicly traded company. Moving forward, active asset deployment isn’t just an optional bonus for Ethereum treasury firms—it is a mandatory survival tactic in a rapidly maturing crypto market.
