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In the dynamic financial sector, Bitcoin ETFs are rapidly gaining ground against their gold counterparts, with inflows pushing total assets under management toward record highs. Bitcoin ETFs are set to overtake gold ETFs in total assets under management.

Bitcoin ETFs Cement Role As Institutional Gateway To Crypto

Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) are on the brink of making history globally. In an X post, the Kobeissi Letter, an industry-leading commentary on global capital markets, has revealed that BTC ETFs are on track to surpass Gold ETFs in assets under management (AUM) for the first time in history, marking a historic milestone in global markets. Over the past 12 months, AUM in the largest cryptocurrency ETFs has doubled to $150 billion, while gold ETFs have climbed 40% to a record of $180 billion.

The comparison highlights how rapidly momentum has shifted. Just three years ago, gold ETFs were five times larger than Bitcoin ETFs. Presently, with accelerating inflows into digital asset products, that gap is narrowing at a historic speed. 

If current trends continue, Bitcoin ETFs could surpass gold ETFs as early as next year. This is a symbolic flip that underscores the rise of crypto from speculative asset to mainstream portfolio allocation.

Lately, ETFs are proving to be the engine behind the current crypto bull market. According to Ucan_Coin, BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, oversees nearly 2,000 funds, with about 1,400 of them being ETFs. Clients buy into these funds, while BlackRock earns fees on the assets under management.

However, the Bitcoin Spot ETF fee is just 0.25%, but the power lies in scale and liquidity. Over the last two years, ETFs have provided the critical fuel for this rally, with nearly 20% of all liquidity entering crypto now flowing directly from ETF products.

As Ucan_Coin highlights, BlackRock’s IBIT stands out. As the chart demonstrates, IBIT is the locomotive pulling the entire market, driving inflows and setting the pace for the broader bull run.

ETF Inflows Signal Rising Institutional Appetite For Bitcoin

The US spot Bitcoin ETFs are gaining remarkable momentum, while generating $5 to $10 billion in daily volume on their most active trading days. Pushpendra Singh, Co-founder of PushpendraTech and SmartViewAi, has explained that this surge is a clear sign that institutional investors are increasingly seeking regulated exposure to Bitcoin, and ETFs are rapidly becoming their preferred gateway.

Despite the ETF boom, Binance continues to dominate the spot market, processing between $10 to $18 billion in daily spot volume and holding a 29% market share. This is more than double the 13% market share currently held by US-based ETFs, and it puts Binance comfortably ahead of other major exchanges in terms of liquidity.

Featured image from Getty Images, chart from Tradingview.com

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BitMine has become the first corporate treasury to surpass 1 million Ethereum (ETH) in holdings after its stash climbed to 1.17 million ETH on Aug. 15, valued at over $5 billion.

The firm added 317,126 tokens worth approximately $2 billion in a single week. BitMine chairman Tom Lee said on August 4 that the firm intends to move with “lightning speed” in its pursuit to acquire 5% of ETH’s total supply.

Notably, the company launched its treasury strategy on June 30, growing from zero to over 1 million ETH in a little over a month.

Treasury competition accelerates

BitMine now leads the Ethereum treasury sector, surpassing SharpLink Gaming’s 728,804 ETH holdings. 

SharpLink reported on August 15 that it raised over $2.6 billion in capital for ETH acquisitions and has staked nearly 100% of its holdings, generating cumulative rewards of approximately 1,326 ETH.

Data from the Strategic ETH Reserve lists 71 ETH-focused treasury firms collectively holding 3.7 million ETH valued at $16.3 billion, representing 3.06% of the total supply. 

These companies indicate plans to allocate roughly $27 billion toward additional ETH acquisitions, which could push corporate holdings to 10% of total supply.

BitMine filed an amendment to expand its at-the-market equity program by $20 billion to fund continued acquisitions. 

The aggressive strategy has driven significant stock performance, with shares surging up to over 1,100% and an average daily trading volume of $2.2 billion, ranking it 25th among all US-listed stocks.

Institutional adoption context

The rapid accumulation could be a sign of growing institutional recognition of Ethereum as foundational infrastructure for future financial systems. 

The corporate broad view could align with BitMine’s understanding that staking ETH secures the network and generates yield while aligning firms with Ethereum’s long-term success. 

On July 21, Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest shifted approximately $175 million from traditional crypto stocks like Coinbase and Robinhood into BitMine. The move demonstrates institutional confidence in Ethereum treasury strategies. 

BitMine’s achievement positions it as the third-largest crypto treasury globally behind Bitcoin-focused Strategy and MARA Holdings.

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Solana-based tokenized stocks surpassed $100 million in market capitalization less than one month since their official launch on June 30.

According to rwa.xyz data, the tokenized stock market on Solana is valued at nearly $102 million as of July 22, representing a 242% increase from its $29.8 million size at the debut date. This market is fueled mainly by xStocks, issued by Backed Finance.

As a result, Solana now accounts for 20.4% of the tokenized stock market. Notably, Ethereum and its layer-2 blockchains Arbitrum, Polygon, and Base account for $11.8 million, which makes Solana’s tokenized stock market over eight times larger.

The largest tokenized stock is TSLAx, representing Tesla’s shares, with a market capitalization of $13.6 million and 11,073 holders.

Tokenized S&P 500 are also in the tens of millions, with SPYx showing a market capitalization of just over $10 million and 9,886 holders.

The tokenized shares of Circle trail closely, with CRCLx reaching a $9.1 million market cap, distributed among 5,746 holders.

Furthermore, the official xStocks profile on X shared that the tokens have surpassed $300 million in on-chain trading volume.

Assessing composability

Despite the explosive growth of tokenized assets issued on Solana, xStocks investors are not interacting with DeFi protocols that have made these assets composable.

Solana-based money market Kamino offers support for eight xStocks tokens as collateral: TSLAx, SPYx, Nvidia’s NVDAx, Robinhood’s HOODx, Strategy’s MSTRx, Apple’s AAPLx, Nasdaq’s QQQx, and Alphabet’s GOOGLx.

Although their collective market cap stands at nearly $50 million, only $585,000, roughly 11%, has been used as collateral so far.

The numbers fare slightly better when it comes to liquidating providing. On Raydium’s pools, the largest TSLAx pool has $1.1 million in liquidity, of which $423,600 represents the amount of tokenized stock deposited per GeckoTerminal data.

The SPYx with most liquidity also displays a significant amount of $1.9 million in liquidity, with $502,000 worth of tokenized stocks on it.

Nevertheless, the ratio remains short. The roughly $637,000 worth of TSLAx tokens used on DeFi is just 4.7% of its market cap. For SPYx, the ratio is 7%.

Crypto to traditional, not the other way around

The relatively low usage of tokenized stocks on DeFi applications occurs mainly because money is mostly flowing from crypto to traditional products, rather than the other way around.

Michael Cahill, CEO and co-founder of Douro Labs, explained in an interview with CryptoSlate that holders from the traditional market who are entering the crypto space are not yet ready to utilize DeFi composability.

He used the Apollo Diversified Credit Securitized Fund (ACRED), launched by Pyth and created by Apollo Global Management and Securitize, as an example to illustrate that the issue of wasted composability still affects the entire tokenization industry.

ACRED has over $100 million in net asset value, yet its on-chain lending pool represents only a small fraction of this value.

However, Cahill also said he sees growth potential. He added:

“But it’s just getting started. We didn’t have xStocks last year. The last time we saw anyone making a meaningful attempt at stocks was Mmirror back in the Terra days, and it wasn’t even that big either. It’s taken a really long time for people to get comfortable with this, but I think that that’ll start very gradually and then people will get a little bit more and more comfortable.”

Furthermore, he believes a Strategy-style “big company moment” could help, but thinks the real catalyst will be the product experience with a traditional finance interface for on-chain products.

Cahill concluded:

“When you get one of those barriers to fall, then you can start to really see it grow together and explode way faster than that whole ramp-up we had with Strategy. It could happen very, very quickly in my mind.”

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Ethereum (ETH) spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) registered the fastest “$1 billion leap” in net inflows in their history, jumping from $6 billion to $7 billion in two days, according to Farside Investors’ data. 

The previous record was five days, when the inflows jumped from $5 billion to $6 billion between July 10 and July 16.

Between July 16 and 17, the US-traded spot Ethereum ETFs added $1.32 billion. The movement was heavily driven by BlackRock’s ETHA, which added $1.04 billion in the period, representing 79%.

Notably, July 16 was the day with the largest daily inflows for Ethereum ETFs, surpassing $726 million in captured assets.

ETF Institute co-founder Nate Geraci highlighted that ETHA is the fifth-largest ETF in terms of weekly inflows with $1.26 billion as of July 18, 4:00 P.M. UTC. 

This is one spot above what ETHA registered last week, as the fund was the sixth-largest by inflows and joined the “big dogs” for the first time. 

At the same time, BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF, IBIT, is the first with nearly $3 billion. As a result, two crypto-related ETFs are among the five largest by weekly net flows, out of over 4,300 funds globally.

Third-largest weekly ratio

Furthermore, Ethereum ETFs are on track to register one of the largest weekly inflow ratios compared to Bitcoin ETFs.

As of July 17, the total inflows into ETH-related funds are nearly $1.78 billion, compared to $2.02 billion from Bitcoin ETFs. The ETH/BTC inflow ratio is then at 88%, the third-largest weekly ratio in history.

The largest ratio, at 206.2%, was registered in the week between February 3 and 7, when Ethereum ETFs absorbed $420.2 million compared to $203.8 million from Bitcoin ETFs. 

The second-largest ratio is 157%, as Ethereum ETFs attracted $557.8 million in inflows, while their Bitcoin counterparts captured $355.2 million between November 25 and 29.

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The following is a guest post and opinion from Michael Egorov, Founder of Curve Finance.

As DeFi edges closer to mainstream finance, it must balance neutrality, security, and throughput. In 2025, that balance is increasingly defined by two competing architectural visions.

The evolution of DeFi has always hinged on one core question: what kind of infrastructure do we want to build the future of finance on? As the space matures and edges toward integration with global financial systems, the urgency of this question only intensifies.

In 2025, this decision is no longer purely technical. It’s a contest between two visions: Ethereum’s modular, decentralization-first stack and Solana’s high-performance, monolithic approach. The outcome will help determine what the next phase of blockchain-based finance looks like—and shape the architecture of tomorrow’s global financial systems.

In this article, I share my perspective on how both networks are positioning themselves for the future, and which is more likely to emerge ahead in the long run.

Ethereum: The Foundation of Serious DeFi

Ethereum is more than just a blockchain—it’s the bedrock of modern DeFi. It’s where secure, composable applications can thrive and where long-term financial infrastructure is being built. Institutional players turn to Ethereum when they want to tokenize assets with confidence, and capital flows here for security. The fact that over 55% of total value locked (TVL) across major chains resides on Ethereum attests to its dominance.

Unlike Solana’s one-size-fits-all Layer 1, Ethereum has embraced a modular scaling approach. Layer 1 remains the core foundation, while Layer 2s handle specific workloads such as micro-transactions or gaming, avoiding congestion on the main chain. This structure preserves decentralization while enabling scale. With the rollout of Proto-Danksharding in early 2025, Layer 2 transaction costs have dropped significantly—cementing Ethereum’s lead in modular architecture.

That said, Ethereum’s model has trade-offs. Its reliance on Layer 2s can introduce fragmentation. Some DeFi primitives need to live on Layer 1 for full composability. While isolated applications like order book DEXs can function on L2s, these solutions often feel like a temporary fix, not a long-term design. Truly integrated DeFi demands synchronous, on-chain composability—which works best when everything operates at the same base layer.

But Ethereum’s greatest strength is its uncompromising commitment to decentralization. It is one of the most politically neutral blockchains in existence—a key trait in an increasingly regulated environment. Speed and user experience can be optimized over time, but decentralization is a founding principle. Once compromised, it’s nearly impossible to restore.

Developer experience is another edge. Writing smart contracts on Ethereum is significantly simpler than on Solana, enabling developers to produce secure, well-tested code. This maturity is part of the reason why Ethereum developers are comfortable making contracts immutable—there’s confidence in the security. It’s no coincidence that nearly every major DeFi innovation originated on Ethereum. With over 1,388 deployed protocols compared to Solana’s 232, the numbers speak for themselves.

When security, composability, and developer confidence align, the entire ecosystem benefits.

Solana: Fast and Efficient, But Centralized

Solana addresses the same scaling challenge from a different angle. Its monolithic architecture keeps everything on a single Layer 1. This offers tangible benefits: extremely fast transactions, low fees, and a seamless user experience.

From a raw performance standpoint, Solana is compelling—capable of processing 3,000–4,000 transactions per second (TPS) today, with expectations of reaching over 1 million TPS through the upcoming Firedancer validator. These numbers, based on testnet results, are impressive compared to Ethereum’s average of 15–30 TPS.

However, this performance comes with trade-offs. Solana’s design includes a leader node that sequences transactions. While this improves throughput, it introduces centralization risks. The network is distributed, but not truly decentralized. That distinction matters—especially in a world where institutions prioritize political neutrality and censorship resistance.

Still, not every use case requires deep decentralization. For example, internal CBDCs or consumer-facing applications in gaming and fintech may benefit from Solana’s throughput and UX. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see state-adapted versions of Solana deployed in controlled environments.

Yet despite Solana’s momentum, Ethereum remains the platform of choice for what I call “serious money.”

Structural Soundness vs. Mass Adoption

The core DeFi debate in 2025—and beyond—centers on what the sector should optimize for: structural integrity or mass adoption? Should we build resilient, decentralized, and composable systems, even if they’re slower and more complex? Or prioritize scale and UX at the expense of core crypto values?

Chasing adoption without structural soundness is short-sighted. If protocols compromise on security or decentralization, regulators will inevitably impose the same constraints that burden traditional finance. At that point, the promise of DeFi would be lost.

That’s why institutional capital continues to favor Ethereum—and why I believe that preference will hold. Neutrality and security can’t be retrofitted; they must be built into the base layer from the start.

If we want DeFi to outlast the hype cycles and form the backbone of a new global financial order, Ethereum offers the most robust path forward. It gives us the best shot at building financial rails that are resilient, secure, and unco-optable.

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Bloomberg’s senior ETF analyst, Eric Balchunas, highlighted that RIAs have now taken the lead among institutional holders of Bitcoin ETFs. Collectively, this group holds exposure to more than 124,000 BTC, which amounts to over $10.2 billion in assets.

That figure places them well ahead of hedge funds, which account for roughly $7 billion in Bitcoin ETF exposure, and brokerages, which hold about $2.1 billion.

Industry insiders also point to a shift in how RIAs are marketing crypto to high-net-worth (HNW) clients.

William Poulin, former head of product at Fidelity, highlighted a trend where savvy advisors rebrand portfolio strategies as exclusive hedge funds.

These RIAs are placing Bitcoin and Ethereum into limited partnerships (LPs), then charging management fees in the structure of “1 and 15”—that is, 1% of assets under management (AUM) plus 15 basis points of gains.

The post RIAs surpass hedge funds in Bitcoin ETF holdings, manage over $10 billion in BTC appeared first on CryptoSlate.

BlackRock’s Ishares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) will become the world’s largest ETF within 10 years, Strategy Chairman Michael Saylor predicted on Bitcoin Standard Corporations Investor Day in New York. The bold prediction comes as US spot Bitcoin ETFS recorded a net inflow of $442 million on Thursday, pushing Bitcoin upwards by more than $95,000.

IBIT, which currently manages $54.2 billion in assets, needs to exceed the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO), which holds approximately $573.5 billion. BlackRock’s ETFs have shown significant momentum, accumulating $1.16 billion in Bitcoin purchases in just three days. It was $193.5 million on April 22nd, $643.2 million on April 23rd, and $327.3 million on April 24th.

“IBIT will become the world’s largest ETF in 10 years,” Saylor said in his presentation. ETFs already show unprecedented growth, reaching $10 billion in assets within seven weeks of their January launch. This is the fastest growth rate for ETFs in history.

Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balknath acknowledged the possibility, but highlighted the extraordinary situation needed. When IBIT starts to acquire more cash than VOO, that means as it is, it means that it means $400 million per day, like $1 billion per day or $400 million per day if you want to acquire the ground,” Balchunas said.

The ETF interest surge coincides with a Bitcoin break of over $95,000, supported by multiple factors, including President Trump’s signal on China’s import duties reductions, new SEC chairman Paul Atkins’ pro-crypto stance, and hopes for a mid-2025 Federal Reserve cut.

Since its launch in January, US spot Bitcoin ETF has accumulated over $37 billion in total net inflows, with total assets under management of over $100 billion. Ibit led the pack and recently won the “Best Newet” at the ETF.com Awards.

At the time of press, Bitcoin maintains strength beyond key psychological levels as institutional investment continues through regulated ETF vehicles, and BlackRock’s aggressive accumulation strategy suggests increased confidence in the asset class.

Cutting corners: The artificial intelligence arms race among tech giants is reaching new heights as industry leaders unveil ambitious spending plans for 2025. This surge in expenditure comes despite recent developments suggesting that such massive investments might not be necessary – namely, the sudden (and arguably too early to call) success of Chinese startup DeepSeek, which claims to have developed an AI model comparable to those of Google and OpenAI at a fraction of the cost.

Amazon has set the bar exceptionally high, announcing an unprecedented investment of over $100 billion in infrastructure, primarily focused on expanding its cloud computing arm, Amazon Web Services. This massive outlay represents a significant increase from the company’s already substantial $77 billion expenditure in 2024, which itself was more than double the $48 billion spent in 2023. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy justified this enormous investment by citing “significant signals of demand” in the AI space.

“The AI opportunity is as big as it comes, and that’s why you’re seeing us invest to meet that moment,” Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai

Google’s parent company, Alphabet, is not far behind, with CEO Sundar Pichai revealing plans to invest $75 billion in 2025, a 42 percent increase from the $53 billion spent in 2024. “The AI opportunity is as big as it comes, and that’s why you’re seeing us invest to meet that moment,” Pichai said in explanation. He also addressed the DeepSeek development, suggesting that it would actually add to demand by demonstrating how new techniques could make AI more accessible and spur new lines of research.

Microsoft has committed to spending $80 billion on expanding its Azure cloud platform. CEO Satya Nadella made this declaration at the World Economic Forum in Davos, underscoring the company’s determination to maintain its competitive edge in AI. Microsoft’s investment strategy is closely tied to its partnership with OpenAI, as it seeks to integrate advanced AI capabilities across its product lineup.

Meta is also ramping up its AI investments. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has pledged to spend “hundreds of billions” more on AI over the long term, building upon the $40 billion invested in 2024. Meta’s AI strategy differs somewhat from its competitors, focusing on improving ad targeting on its social media platforms and enhancing user experiences across its suite of apps.

The combined capital expenditure of these four tech giants – Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta – reached a staggering $246 billion in 2024, a 63 percent increase from 2023. Their collective spending is projected to exceed $320 billion in 2025.

These enormous investments stand in stark contrast to the apparent approach taken by DeepSeek. The Chinese AI lab claims to have built a reasoning model with capabilities similar to those of Google and OpenAI’s products but at a significantly lower cost. To be sure, there is skepticism about DeepSeek’s claims, particularly regarding the cost of developing its model. Nonetheless, the splash it has made in the AI scene has raised questions about the necessity of the massive spending plans announced by the tech giants.

However, the major players seem undeterred by DeepSeek’s achievement. They continue directing their investments toward building and expanding data centers, acquiring specialized AI chips, and conducting extensive research and development in AI technologies. The companies are competing to create more advanced large language models and to integrate AI capabilities across their product lines and services.

Beyond the public tech giants, significant investments are also flowing into AI startups. OpenAI’s Sam Altman has formed a partnership with SoftBank and Oracle to invest $100 billion in AI-related U.S. infrastructure, with the potential to increase to half a trillion dollars over time.

The scale of these investments reflects the tech industry’s conviction in AI’s transformative potential, despite the challenges posed by more efficient models like DeepSeek’s.

“Could there be an AI winter at some point?” Rishi Jaluria, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, said to the Financial Times. “Sure. But if you’re in a position to be a leader, you can’t take your foot off the gas.”