Institutional investors are once again demonstrating confidence in digital assets. Over the past week, three major Wall Street companies — Strive, BitMine, and Strategy — have collectively invested more than half a billion dollars in bitcoin and Ethereum. These are not just purchases, but a strategic move that underscores a shift in capital management approaches within traditional finance.
Buying on the rise: a new business model
These acquisitions are not spontaneous decisions, but part of a well-thought-out corporate strategy. Companies are actively converting funds raised from share offerings into cryptocurrency, leveraging periods of high market activity. Notably, the peak in demand for their shares often coincides with rising digital asset prices, creating a closed loop of capital raising.
Strive, under the leadership of CEO Matt Cole, increased its portfolio by 1,800 BTC purchased at an average price of $79,431. The company now holds 23,156 bitcoins on its balance sheet, equivalent to $1.83 billion. Over the week, the issuance of new Class A shares exceeded 3.57 million, and cash reserves grew to $183.5 million.
BitMine chose a different path, focusing on Ethereum. The company added 53,501 ETH, extending its buying streak to 65 consecutive weeks. The key bet is on yield: through its own validator network MAVAN, more than 5 million ETH have been staked, accounting for 86% of the portfolio. Chairman of the Board Tom Lee expects this strategy to generate $335–390 million in annual income. BitMine already controls 4.9% of all issued ether and is approaching the 5% target, for which it needs 133,888 more coins.
Meanwhile, Strategy resumed purchases after a ten-week pause, adding 4,603 BTC at an average price of $75,412 per coin.
Capital flows and the macroeconomic backdrop
The driver of these movements has been record inflows into ETFs. U.S. spot bitcoin funds attracted more than $3.3 billion in August, while Ethereum funds brought in about $1.75 billion after two months of outflows. The market reaction was swift: bitcoin rose 25.7% over the month, and Ethereum gained 33.3%.
Interestingly, the money is not coming from the AI bubble, as many assume. The timeline does not add up: the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index's 20.6% decline and South Korea's KOSPI's 22% drop occurred in July, while August was relatively calm for the Nasdaq 100 (+4.2%). Instead, we are witnessing a shift of funds from Asian markets: foreign investors withdrew 10.17 trillion won from Korean stocks, and trading volumes on the Upbit exchange increased eightfold.
Political factors also provided additional support. President Trump's call to pass the CLARITY bill and the U.S. Treasury's expansion of its long-term bond buyback program created a favorable backdrop for risk assets.
My view: Institutional purchases at these levels are a long-term signal. While bitcoin trades near $78,818, companies continue to accumulate assets, indicating confidence in future growth. The key moment will be the closing of the funding window — if it remains open, we could see further strengthening of positions.