ramping – Earlybirds Invest

Corporate accumulation

Bitmine Immersion Technologies disclosed plans to raise as much as $20 billion for additional Ethereum acquisitions. The company already holds about $5 billion in ETH, positioning it among the largest known corporate holders of the second-largest crypto.

Its heavy accumulation follows a broader trend of companies adopting digital assets in their treasury strategies, a movement that has gained pace as institutional access to crypto markets expands.

U.S.-listed spot Ethereum ETFs registered $1 billion in net inflows on Aug. 11, the highest daily total since their launch earlier this year. The inflows also surpassed those of spot Bitcoin ETFs for the second time in August.

Over the past month, Ethereum has strengthened against Bitcoin, with the ETH/BTC ratio rising nearly 50% to above 0.37, though it remains down 15% compared to a year ago.

Regulatory shifts and network activity

Ethereum’s share of the crypto market has been increasing in recent weeks after an extended period of underperformance relative to Bitcoin.

The network hosts a large share of activity in asset tokenization, DeFi, and blockchain-based settlement systems that mirror traditional market infrastructure. These uses have been supported by recent software upgrades aimed at improving scalability and reducing transaction costs.

Regulatory developments have also shaped the current environment. In the US, the passage of the GENIUS Act has provided greater clarity for certain digital asset activities, which has been cited as a factor in renewed institutional participation.

In parallel, other digital asset treasuries, including Sharplink, have increased ETH holdings, further adding to market demand. The combination of corporate accumulation, strong ETF inflows, and the potential for looser monetary policy has coincided with ETH’s highest price in nearly five years.

While previous rallies have often been followed by periods of heightened volatility, the current market environment reflects multiple overlapping drivers that have concentrated buying activity in the asset over recent weeks.

Ethereum Market Data

At the time of press 9:13 pm UTC on Aug. 12, 2025, Ethereum is ranked #2 by market cap and the price is up 6.57% over the past 24 hours. Ethereum has a market capitalization of $546.4 billion with a 24-hour trading volume of $51.46 billion. Learn more about Ethereum ›

Crypto Market Summary

At the time of press 9:13 pm UTC on Aug. 12, 2025, the total crypto market is valued at at $4.04 trillion with a 24-hour volume of $197.37 billion. Bitcoin dominance is currently at 58.93%. Learn more about the crypto market ›

Mentioned in this article

Amid a recent surge in physical threats to crypto investors with substantial holdings, firms that offer personal security services are seeing increasing demand. Amsterdam-based physical security and intelligence services provider Infinite Risks International’s managing director, Jethro Pijlman, told Bloomberg:

“We’ve had more inquiries, more long-term clients, and more proactive requests from crypto investors who don’t want to be caught off guard.”

According to Pijlman, crypto investors are “realizing that intelligent security measures are part of the cost of doing business at this level.”

Growing kidnappings reaffirmed earlier concerns

In 2013, when the price of Bitcoin (BTC) surged, early investors employed an entourage of bodyguards as a display of wealth. But personal security emerged as a necessity as more and more investors became victims of kidnapping and extortion over the last decade.

Concerned investors have been trying to increase security measures since 2018, but they were not yet ready to hire bodyguards. After hardware wallet firm Ledger co-founder David Balland and his wife were kidnapped and held hostage in January this year, crypto elites started hiring bodyguards and beefing up personal security, Wired reported.

Around the globe, over 20 incidents of physical attacks on crypto holders have been documented on a running public ledger kept by Bitcoin security expert Jameson Lopp. The escalating threats have reaffirmed earlier concerns of crypto holders.

Early this month, the father of a crypto entrepreneur was abducted in France. Earlier this week, the video of the failed kidnapping attempt on the daughter and grandson of the CEO of French cryptocurrency platform Paymium struck fear among crypto executives.

The French government promised to increase security for crypto execs in the country in the wake of the recent attacks. This includes priority access to the police emergency line, home visits, and safety guidance and briefings from law enforcement, Politico reported. The decision was taken on Friday after French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau met with wealthy crypto entrepreneurs on Friday.

Threat to crypto holders is ‘very high’

Perpetrators of the Coinbase hack earlier this week got hold of names, contact details, identity documents, and masked bank and social security information of victims. Coinbase claimed that the data breach, which took place because bribed support staff leaked sensitive information, affected less than 1% of its active monthly users.

However, the fact that hackers can track down the physical location of wealthy crypto executives has raised alarms for investors. A Columbia University professor of computer science and co-founder of blockchain security firm CertiK, Ronghui Gu, told Bloomberg:

“Crypto traders are acutely concerned about their privacy during data leaks. Cryptocurrency can be transferred with just a private key, and is extremely difficult to recover.”

This structure of access to crypto wallets makes traders “prime targets for criminals,” Gu added. This is because bad actors, amid evolving cybersecurity measures making hacks difficult, hope to access crypto by physically endangering the holders. Charles Marino, CEO of the security firm Sentinel, stated:

“Right now, the crypto threat landscape is very high.”

Crypto firms spend millions on the personal security of CEOs

Several crypto entrepreneurs and holders of massive crypto wealth spend millions each year on personal security. The millions poured demonstrate the need for such measures.

Take Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, for example. In 2024, the exchange spent $6.2 million on the personal security of Armstrong, overshooting the combined budget allocated by JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, and Nvidia to ensure the protection of their CEOs.

Similarly, Circle spent $800,000 last year on security for CEO Jeremy Allaire. On the other hand, Robinhood spent $1.6 million on CEO Vlad Tenev.

Infinite Risks International offers clients a range of security services to its clients, including bodyguards, armored vehicle transports, home security, and monitoring of social media to prevent leaks of physical locations. Pijlman said:

“It often takes a close call or a story in the news to prompt action, but once they understand the threat, they want to take it seriously. People are waking up to the fact that their digital success can create very real-world risks.”