Ethereum Treasury Firms Rely More on Staking Income as ETFs Erode Buy-and-Hold Premium

Public companies that hold Ethereum are relying more heavily on staking and other yield-generating strategies, according to a new analysis. Spot crypto exchange-traded funds have made simple ETH exposure less attractive, pressuring treasury-focused firms to generate returns from the assets they hold.

Cointelegraph reported on May 26 that staking infrastructure firm Everstake said in a report that revenue models at Ethereum treasury companies are shifting toward staking.

Everstake reviewed 15 listed companies with Ethereum treasury strategies. Among six that separately disclosed staking-related income, staking revenue accounted for an average of 60% of reported revenue. Those companies were BitMine Immersion Technologies, SharpLink, Bit Digital, Forum Markets, BTCS and FG Nexus.

The report also highlighted losses. Companies in the survey that reported losses in 2025 posted a combined net loss of about $1.41 billion. BitMine Immersion Technologies reported a net loss of $90.2 million for the six months ended Feb. 28, though Everstake said the figure was driven more by digital-asset valuation losses than by operating losses.

Everstake said the buy-and-hold premium for digital-asset treasury, or DAT, companies has weakened since the launch of spot ETFs. DAT firms had previously offered one of the few ways for public-market investors to gain crypto exposure. With ETFs now providing a more direct investment vehicle, simple asset holdings alone have become harder to justify on a valuation basis.

Bohdan Opryshko, Everstake's co-founder, said DATs that rely on passive exposure are being structurally repriced. Asset management strategies are no longer limited to standard protocol staking, he added, and are expanding into liquid staking, decentralized finance lending and validator-level strategies.

Still, staking income alone may not offset all risks. Opryshko said ETH price volatility, share dilution, discounts to net asset value, funding costs and operating expenses can all exceed staking returns. Passive ETH accumulation is becoming increasingly difficult to justify as a standalone public-market strategy, he said.

Ignacio Aguirre, chief marketing officer at Bitget, also said spot ETFs are one factor reducing the premium for ETH-holding companies. But he said he would not attribute the shift too heavily to ETFs alone, adding that investors also weigh ETH prices, financial statements, dilution risk, execution and market sentiment.

Some market participants say pressure on treasury-strategy firms could intensify if ETH ETFs with staking features emerge. Aguirre, however, described that dynamic as more complementary than a threat to corporate survival.