CoinSpotMarket Update
Bitcoin Corporate Demand Surges & Ethereum's Scaling Milestone
3 minutes
a day ago
3 minutes
a day ago
Corporate digital asset treasuries added approximately 260,000 Bitcoin over the past six months, valued at roughly $40 billion ($25 billion USD). This buying rate of around 43,000 BTC per month significantly exceeds the new mining supply, which produced only 82,000 coins during the same period. The result is a three-to-one ratio of corporate demand to new supply entering the market.
Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) remains the dominant corporate holder with 687,410 BTC, representing 60% of all corporate holdings. Marathon Digital Holdings follows with 53,250 BTC. Overall, corporate treasuries expanded from approximately 854,000 to 1.11 million BTC over the six-month period, representing a 30% increase.
This sustained institutional accumulation, combined with strong demand from exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that have absorbed more than 100% of new supply since January 2024, suggests structural demand continues to outstrip available supply.
Bitcoin held by public companies since 2018 (Source)
A new law that would create clear rules for crypto in the U.S. has been delayed. The CLARITY Act was scheduled to go through the Senate committee, but some major crypto companies said they no longer supported the latest version. The committee has put the vote on hold while they work on changes.
The bill would decide which government agency oversees different parts of the crypto market. One agency would handle crypto that works like commodities (such as Bitcoin), while another would handle tokens that work more like investments. Supporters still hope the law will pass this year, as both major political parties have backed clearer rules for the industry.
The CLARITY Act is widely touted as the most comprehensive and meaningful piece of crypto legislation to date. The passage of this bill promises to provide long-sought regulatory clarity for institutions and corporations waiting to expand deeper into crypto.
Ethereum recently processed a record 2.88 million transactions in a single day, the highest daily count in the network's history. The seven-day moving average is now approaching 2.5 million transactions, nearly double the level from one year ago.
This surge in activity coincides with gas fees falling to around $0.01 per transaction, compared to approximately $50 during peak periods in 2021 and 2024. (Worth noting, certain security researchers are arguing that such low fees are introducing new challenges for the Ethereum network in the form of increased mass spam attacks.)
Several protocol upgrades have driven this improvement. Stablecoin transfers now account for 35–40% of all Ethereum transactions, according to Standard Chartered. This combination of record activity and minimal costs demonstrates the network's improved scalability, removing a key barrier to adoption for smaller transactions.
Transactions on the Ethereum blockchain (Source)
The New York Stock Exchange announced plans to develop a blockchain-based platform for trading tokenised securities around the clock. The platform, which requires regulatory approval, would enable instant settlement, dollar-denominated order sizes, and stablecoin-based funding. It combines NYSE's existing Pillar matching engine with blockchain-based post-trade systems that support multiple chains for settlement and custody.
Importantly, tokenised securities would remain fungible with their traditional counterparts, meaning investors retain access to dividends and governance rights under existing corporate frameworks. NYSE parent Intercontinental Exchange is working with BNY and Citigroup to support tokenised deposits, and is preparing its clearing infrastructure for around-the-clock operations. This initiative represents a significant step toward bridging traditional finance and blockchain technology, potentially reshaping global securities trading and settlement.
WalletConnect Pay officially launched its integration with Ingenico, one of the world's largest payment terminal providers. The partnership enables customers to pay with stablecoins such as USDC and USDT at Ingenico's Android-based point-of-sale terminals.
With Ingenico's global installed base exceeding 40 million terminals across 120 countries, this represents one of the largest deployments of cryptocurrency payment infrastructure to date.
The integration enables direct stablecoin payments without reliance on traditional card networks. Merchants can accept stablecoins without purchasing new hardware or holding digital currencies on their balance sheets. WalletConnect Pay supports over 700 wallets globally, and the service is rolling out to acquiring institutions and payment service providers in January, with expansion to European merchants planned for the months ahead.
