An invisible migration of capital is underway.



Wall Street funds that can't directly touch cryptocurrencies have found a new "compliant channel"—Digital Asset Treasuries (DATs). These publicly listed companies specialize in hoarding crypto, allowing traditional institutions to indirectly hold Ethereum by buying stocks. It sounds convoluted, but it's effective.

The most aggressive players have already entered the game. Tom Lee, a Wall Street veteran, propelled Bitmine to the top of the global ETH corporate holdings chart in just 12 weeks: 2.8 million ETH, with a market value exceeding $10 billion. This isn't just testing the waters—it's going all in.

His logic is blunt—Bitcoin may be digital gold, but Ethereum? That's Wall Street itself in the digital age. Think about what happened after the US dollar decoupled from gold: Wall Street used financial instruments to make the stock market's value 20 times that of gold. Now, with Ethereum as a programmable financial base layer, what's the ceiling for the scale of assets it can support? No one knows.

DATs aren't just "proxy tools." They're doing three things: paving the way for institutions to channel money into DeFi, using massive staking to stabilize network security, and pushing for comprehensive on-chain tokenization of real-world assets (RWA). It's like building a superhighway between traditional finance and the on-chain world.

But there's a flip side.

When a handful of treasuries hold vast amounts of ETH, how much decentralization remains? If an aggressive DAT loads up on leverage, could a market crash trigger domino-style liquidations? For now, there are no answers to these questions.

One thing seems certain: DATs may just be a transitional form, but they're accelerating an even crazier future—stocks, real estate, even your salary streams, all tokenized and traded around the clock with full transparency.

Ethereum's counteroffensive may have only just begun.
ETH-1,11%
BTC-0,61%
View Original
This page may contain third-party content, which is provided for information purposes only (not representations/warranties) and should not be considered as an endorsement of its views by Gate, nor as financial or professional advice. See Disclaimer for details.
  • Reward
  • 6
  • Repost
  • Share
Comment
0/400
DAOdreamervip
· 2025-12-08 11:43
Wait, 2.8 million ETH? What if leverage blows this up, the whole market could go down with it. --- To put it plainly, DAT is just a way for traditional capital to rebrand and enter the market. It sounds compliant but it’s really the same old trick. --- Ethereum turning into Wall Street? Uh… I feel like this logic is a bit too optimistic. --- Here’s the problem: what if these treasuries suddenly dump everything at once? Would retail investors even survive to see that day? --- This talk of unlimited programmable finance potential sounds a bit overhyped to me—reality isn’t that rosy. --- You’re right, the framework is set up, but who can guarantee it won’t become the next black swan event? --- Feels like DAT is just old wine in a new bottle, ultimately another new trick for big capital to fleece retail investors.
View OriginalReply0
AirdropFreedomvip
· 2025-12-07 00:51
Wall Street really has arrived—2.8 million ETH all-in just like that. That’s what institutional scale looks like. --- The DAT logic is really clever, indirectly helping traditional capital bypass regulation, but the risks are real too. --- Wait, if large holdings are concentrated in the hands of a few DATs, is decentralization still alive? --- Ethereum becoming Wall Street itself? That’s a harsh conclusion, but thinking about it, it’s actually spot on. --- When leveraged positions get liquidated and the domino effect kicks in, retail investors will have to pick up the pieces again. We’ve seen this playbook too many times. --- Putting all RWAs fully on-chain is truly insane—tokenized real estate trading just sounds outrageous. --- Tom Lee’s move this time is definitely aggressive—2.8 million ETH is basically a bet on how high Ethereum’s ceiling can go.
View OriginalReply0
DegenApeSurfervip
· 2025-12-07 00:48
Damn, 2.8 million ETH in one person's hands? And they still call this decentralized? What a joke. --- The DAT scheme is just big players accumulating more under the guise of compliance, while us retail investors can only watch. --- Can Ethereum really handle the scale of Wall Street? Feels like its ceiling isn't that high. --- They say it's like building a highway, but in reality, it's just giving institutions the green light. The speed at which we get rekt is only going to increase. --- Staking is supposed to secure the network? Feels more and more like traditional financial tricks. --- If this RWA on-chain move really works, the entire financial system will have to be restructured. That's kind of terrifying. --- Going all-in with 2.8 million ETH is nuts. If things crash, how much would this guy lose? --- Just watching, waiting for the DAT bubble to burst. Once the dominoes start falling, retail will be left holding the bag again. --- Even salary income streams can be tokenized and traded? I'm just a damn sucker. --- Tom Lee really does see far ahead, but this logic only benefits those with enough chips.
View OriginalReply0
LeekCuttervip
· 2025-12-07 00:41
2.8 million ETH, this guy really dares to ape in. Wall Street is finally taking it seriously. --- To put it plainly, DAT is just repackaging coins for speculation. Institutions still have to jump through hoops to get in. --- Ethereum = Digital Wall Street. This analogy is spot on. Right now, there really doesn’t seem to be a ceiling. --- I just want to know, if these 2.8 million get dumped, do retail investors have any chance left? --- Decentralization has become a cash machine for the few. Ironic, isn’t it? --- If all RWAs really get on-chain, the entire game changes. --- The day leverage maxes out is when the liquidation feast begins. --- Stocks and real estate are being broken down into tokens. It’s real now. Next up is salary streams—who could resist that temptation?
View OriginalReply0
MerkleDreamervip
· 2025-12-07 00:29
Damn, Tom Lee's move is just insane, going all-in with 2.8 million ETH... This guy really treats Ethereum as Wall Street 2.0. DAT's approach is truly brilliant. Traditional finance money has finally found a compliant way in, but decentralization really needs a question mark now. Feels like this is the real entry of big capital; before, it was just small-scale stuff, now they're starting to play seriously. Just worried that if an aggressive DAT adds leverage and things collapse, the domino effect could go wild. The whole asset tokenization thing sounds pretty scary... What a wild future this could be.
View OriginalReply0
CountdownToBrokevip
· 2025-12-07 00:28
--- Tom Lee is literally bringing Wall Street’s playbook on-chain this time. Just worried that if things crash, everyone’s going down together. DAT is basically institutions entering under the guise of compliance. Gotta wait and see if this is another round of retail getting rekt. 2.8 million ETH… that’s a crazy amount of money flowing in. Wall Street really treats crypto like its own cash machine. At the end of the day, never try to outplay the institutions—they’ve got a million ways to wipe out retail. RWA on-chain, trading 24/7? Sounds awesome, but who’s gonna eat the risk? “No one knows the ceiling”—that just means anything can happen, or everything can blow up. ---
View OriginalReply0
  • Pin

Trade Crypto Anywhere Anytime
qrCode
Scan to download Gate App
Community
  • بالعربية
  • Português (Brasil)
  • 简体中文
  • English
  • Español
  • Français (Afrique)
  • Bahasa Indonesia
  • 日本語
  • Português (Portugal)
  • Русский
  • 繁體中文
  • Українська
  • Tiếng Việt