After Donald Trump returned to office with a pro-crypto stance, crypto deal-making has exploded in 2025. According to a well-known venture capitalist, Chamath Palihapitiya, crypto acquisitions and public listings in the U.S. have already reached $8.2 billion across 88 transactions, tripling the total value seen in all of 2024. He has also highlighted five key trends driving this rapid growth.
Companies Are Turning Treasuries Into Bitcoin Investments
First, we’re seeing a wave of Bitcoin treasury moves. Companies like Twenty One Capital are following in the footsteps of MicroStrategy by turning their corporate treasuries into Bitcoin investment vehicles. Their business model is simple, buy Bitcoin, hold it, and ride the wave of crypto appreciation.
Wall Street Firms Moving Into Crypto
Second, traditional finance firms are making serious moves into crypto infrastructure. A major example is DTCC’s acquisition of Securrency. This deal allows Wall Street firms to offer crypto services alongside traditional assets, giving investors the best of both worlds on a single platform.
Institutions Are Building Secure Platforms
Third, institutions are stepping up their crypto game. Ripple’s purchase of Metaco shows the push to build platforms that can securely manage digital assets while meeting the strict compliance needs of big players like banks and asset managers.
Crypto Exchanges Merge for Growth
Fourth, crypto exchanges are consolidating. Kraken’s $1.5 billion purchase of futures broker NinjaTrader is a major step in blending digital and traditional trading. It’s all about making it easy for users to move between Bitcoin, stocks, and more without the usual hassle.
Finally, even blockchain projects are merging. Projects like Fetch, Ocean Protocol, and SingularityNET are combining forces to speed up growth, expand their communities, and boost the power of their tokens.
However, all of these moves together are building a bridge between traditional finance and decentralized finance. If this trend continues, 2025 might be the year crypto truly becomes part of the everyday financial world.
Crypto Market Outlook
After struggling for two months, the crypto market is finally showing some strength. The total market cap is now around $3.03 trillion. Leading the way, Bitcoin has just hit $95,000 after a long period of consolidation.
Meanwhile, Ethereum is also moving up, trading at $1,809 with a 10% gain over the week. Other altcoins like XRP, Solana, Cardano, and Dogecoin have also gone up by 8% to 15% this week.
What is driving the $8.2 billion in crypto acquisitions?
The rapid growth of Bitcoin treasury investments, Wall Street firms entering crypto, and major mergers in crypto exchanges and blockchain projects are driving the surge in acquisitions.
How are companies turning their treasuries into Bitcoin investments?
Companies like Twenty One Capital are following MicroStrategy’s model by buying Bitcoin and holding it as part of their corporate treasury to ride the wave of crypto appreciation.
Ethereum (ETH) has been showing signs of renewed strength, gaining 14% over the past seven days. Despite the recent rally, Ethereum has been trading below the $1,900 mark since April 2, highlighting the importance of key resistance levels ahead.
Whether Ethereum can reclaim higher ground or faces renewed selling pressure will likely depend on its next moves around major support and resistance zones.
Ethereum’s BBTrend Cools: What It Signals Next
Ethereum’s BBTrend currently sits at 8.77, marking a noticeable decline from 11.83 two days ago.
Despite the drop, the indicator has remained positive for the past three days, suggesting that Ethereum has maintained an underlying bullish structure even as momentum cools off.
This shift could signal the early stages of a potential consolidation phase, during which the market takes a breather before deciding on its next major move.
BBTrend, or Bollinger Band Trend, is a technical indicator that measures the strength of a trend by analyzing how price behaves relative to the Bollinger Bands.
When BBTrend values are high and positive, they generally signal a strong uptrend; when they are negative, they point to a downtrend. Ethereum’s BBTrend, now at 8.77, indicates that while the uptrend is still present, its strength is fading.
Ethereum Whales Hold Steady: What It Means for Price
The number of Ethereum whales — wallets holding between 1,000 and 10,000 ETH — currently stands at 5,458.
This figure rose slightly from 5,442 on April 21 to 5,457 on April 23, and has remained stable around this level for the past four days.
The recent stabilization suggests a pause in accumulation or distribution activity among large holders, offering a potential signal that the market could be waiting for a catalyst before making its next significant move.
Tracking Ethereum whales is critical because these large holders can have an outsized impact on price movements. When whale numbers rise, it often signals confidence and potential accumulation, which can be bullish for price.
With the number of Ethereum whales holding steady around 5,458, it could imply a neutral stance among major players — neither aggressively buying nor selling — potentially leading to reduced volatility and range-bound price action until a clearer trend emerges.
Ethereum’s Battle Around $1,828: Breakout or Breakdown?
Ethereum’s EMA (Exponential Moving Average) lines are currently aligned in a bullish formation, with the short-term EMAs positioned above the long-term ones — a classic sign of upward momentum.
Over the past few days, ETH attempted to break through the resistance zone around $1,828 but was unsuccessful. If Ethereum tests this level again and successfully breaks above it, the next upside targets would be the $1,954 resistance, followed by a potential move to $2,104.
A break above $2,000 would be significant, marking the first time ETH trades above this psychological level since March 27.
However, Ethereum price could fall back to test the support at $1,749 if the bullish momentum fades and the trend reverses. Losing this level could expose ETH to further declines toward $1,689.
Should selling pressure intensify, deeper support levels at $1,537 and even $1,385 could come into play.
The number of publicly traded companies buying and holding Bitcoin (BTC) has surged to 80 in 2025, a 142% increase from just 33 companies in 2023.
This trend reflects the growing acceptance of Bitcoin as both a strategic reserve asset and a hedge against inflation.
Why Public Companies Are Holding Bitcoin in 2025
Digital asset brokerage firm River revealed that 80 public companies hold Bitcoin, up from just 33 two years ago.
“80 public companies are now buying Bitcoin. Two years ago there were 33. Two years from now there will be…?,” River posed.
Public Companies Holding Bitcoin. Source: River on X
The companies embracing Bitcoin span multiple industries, with a strong concentration in technology and finance. The technology sector accounts for half of the public companies holding Bitcoin. Bitcoin Treasuries data shows firms like MicroStrategy (now Strategy), Tesla, and Block stand at the forefront of integrating Bitcoin into their financial strategies.
The remaining 5% comprises companies from other sectors, including retail and energy. These firms experiment with Bitcoin holdings for transactions and balance sheet diversification.
Several key factors are driving the adoption of Bitcoin among public companies. Inflation hedging has become a major consideration as firms look for alternative stores of value beyond traditional assets.
“Bitcoin is the currency of freedom, a hedge against inflation for middle-class Americans, a remedy against the dollar’s downgrade from the world’s reserve currency, and the off-ramp from a ruinous national debt. Bitcoin will have no stronger advocate than Howard Lutnik,” US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr said recently.
Additionally, investor pressure has played a role as institutional investors and shareholders increasingly push companies to diversify into digital assets. Regulatory clarity and pro-crypto policies in some regions have further encouraged corporate adoption.
Cumulative Bitcoin Holdings Continue to Rise
Meanwhile, public companies have been accumulating Bitcoin at an unprecedented rate. Between 2020 and 2023, they collectively held approximately 200,000 BTC. In 2024 alone, an additional 257,095 BTC was acquired, doubling the total from five years ago.
In the first quarter of 2025, an estimated 50,000 to 70,000 BTC has already been added. Noteworthy, MicroStrategy and Fold Holdings lead the acquisitions. Coinbase’s recent institutional investor survey also indicated that 83% of institutions plan to increase their crypto asset allocation by 2025.
The surge in Bitcoin adoption by public companies coincides with a new wave of crypto-related IPOs (initial public offerings). Notable firms, including Gemini and Kraken, plan to go public, highlighting increased institutional confidence in the digital asset space. These IPOs provide fresh capital inflows and further legitimize the broader crypto market.
Bitcoin has also become a financial lifeline for struggling companies seeking to boost their stock prices. Some firms with declining revenues have turned to Bitcoin investments to attract new investors and strengthen their market position. As a result, Bitcoin is playing an increasingly significant role in corporate strategies.
Beyond corporate treasuries, Bitcoin’s rising adoption also influences financial planning in other areas. Parents increasingly choose Bitcoin as an alternative to traditional college savings plans, betting on its long-term growth potential to fund education expenses.
With 80 public companies now holding Bitcoin, the trend shows no signs of slowing. If the current growth trajectory continues, institutional adoption will deepen as more companies turn to Bitcoin.
Solana has emerged as a powerful presence in the crypto industry. Since its inception in 2020, the network has dominated the market, demonstrating remarkable levels of user engagement and practical utility, particularly in decentralized finance (DeFi). Many in the industry view it as the next natural contender to receive an ETF approval in the United States.
However, others are more cautious in their evaluations. BeInCrypto spoke with representatives from Gravity, Variant, and OKX to understand the areas where Solana is still lacking. Industry leaders referred to centralization, network reliability, and excessive regulation as points of contention for Solana’s ETF approval.
Bitcoin and Ethereum’s Precedent
The availability of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for prominent cryptocurrencies has grown over the past year. These funds offer investors diversified investment opportunities and act as a bridge between traditional finance and the increasingly mainstream cryptocurrency market.
Meanwhile, the deadline for some filings, including Grayscale’s, was extended until October. Nonetheless, posts on X and some analytical reports suggest yesterday’s deadline as a date of interest for an initial or consolidated SEC response to several applications.
2025 Predictions and Market Expectations
The tentative approval of a Solana ETF has generated much debate across social media platforms. ETF President Nate Geraci formally predicted that 2025 would be the year of crypto ETFs and that Solana would receive its approval this year.
Per previous reports, former Trump White House Secretary Anthony Scaramucci expressed that, with a Trump reelection, Solana ETFs could gain approval during Q1 of 2025. According to his predictions, Solana would receive the SEC’s green light during the next two weeks.
Meanwhile, the prediction market Polymarket estimates an 82% chance that a Solana ETF will get approved in 2025.
According to a Polymarket poll, Solana has an 82% chance of getting an ETF approval in 2025. Source: Polymarket
Several factors make an imminent Solana ETF approval seem plausible. Less than five years after the network launched, Solana quickly became a major player in the crypto industry, attracting users for its high transaction speeds and low gas fees.
“From a network perspective, Solana’s performance has been remarkable, now driving nearly 50% of all global DEX volume– a dominance that fundamentally reshapes the DeFi landscape. The blockchain is not just handling unprecedented transaction volumes… it’s transforming our understanding of blockchain scalability at scale,” Lennix Lai, Global Chief Commercial Officer at OKX told BeInCrypto.
Solana has established itself as a dynamic force in the crypto industry following a successful 2024.
A Messari report detailed particular growth in Solana’s final quarter across DeFi, liquid staking, NFTs, and institutional involvement. The total value locked (TVL) in Solana’s DeFi sector increased substantially, growing by 64% to $8.6 billion, which placed it behind Ethereum as the second-largest network based on TVL.
Solana’s positive performance, coupled with Donald Trump’s reelection to the US presidency, further amplified the crypto industry’s optimism over an ETF approval.
However, some industry experts have expressed more tempered expectations.
Experts Offer Tempered Expectations
A few days before Trump assumed the presidency, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst James Seyffart said Solana ETFs may not be launched in the US until 2026. He cited the SEC’s precedent of taking a lot of time to review filings as the cause for delay.
In another post, Bloomberg Senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said that ETF approvals for other cryptocurrencies were more likely to occur before Solana.
“We expect a wave of cryptocurrency ETFs next year, albeit not all at once. First out is likely the BTC + ETH combo ETFs, then prob Litecoin (bc its fork of btc = commodity), then HBAR (bc not labeled security) and then XRP/Solana (which have been labeled securities in pending lawsuits),” Balchunas said.
Balchunas further explained that complex legal issues around Solana, relating to its status as a security, need to be resolved before it can gain ETF approval. Consequently, he deemed the approval of Litecoin or Hedera ETFs more likely.
Uncertainty over whether Solana classifies as a security is a major driver fueling doubts over its ETF approval.
Security Classification Concerns
Martins Benkitis, co-founder and CEO of Gravity, explained that Solana’s regulatory classification complicates its path to approval.
“It’s no secret there’s currently a lack of precedent for Layer-1 blockchains beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum in the ETF space, this suggests cautious optimism but with higher regulatory hurdles. Bitcoin, being a commodity in the SEC’s eyes, and Ethereum’s gradual transition to PoS had different legal considerations. Solana, on the other hand, faces concerns over potential classification as a security due to its token distribution and foundation’s involvement,” Benkitis told BeInCrypto.
The SEC identified Solana as a security in lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase over the past two years, although these lawsuits have since been dropped. The SEC argued that these tokens could be considered investment contracts under the Howey Test.
While some interpreted the SEC’s lawsuit withdrawal as a softening stance on Solana’s security classification, others quickly challenged this assumption.
“There is no reason to think [the] SEC has decided SOL is a non-security. That they don’t want to do discovery on a dozen tokens in the Binance case appears to be a litigation tactic, not a change in policy,” said Jake Chervinsky, Chief Legal Officer at Variant, following the Binance lawsuit withdrawal in July 2024.
Others believe that a pro-crypto administration should be enough to influence the SEC to consider Solana as a non-security. Lai disagrees.
“The changing political landscape, particularly with Trump’s victory and pro-crypto stance, could create a more constructive environment for innovative blockchain platforms like Solana. However, the technical and market structure considerations will remain crucial regardless of administration changes,” he said.
In the meantime, there are several other requirements Solana must meet.
On his part, Lai added other aspects to the list of considerations.
“While Polymarket shows high odds for 2025 approval, several critical factors suggest a more complex pathway: Solana’s technological architecture presents unique challenges with its PoS mechanism; The absence of CME futures raises liquidity and risk management concerns; Historical network downtime incidents need addressing; Centralization questions relative to BTC and ETH remain unresolved; Institutional interest hasn’t matched BTC and ETH levels despite the network driving 48% of global DEX volume; [and] the temporary nature of trending themes suggests caution in using current volumes as primary indicators,” Lai told BeInCrypto.
Concerns about centralization and scalability have long been discussed regarding Solana, even outside of discussions over an ETF approval.
Since 2021, Solana has suffered over a dozen network outages varying in severity. These outages have jeopardized the network’s reputation as stable and reliable– two strongly considered characteristics during the ETF approval process.
“From a market making standpoint, network reliability is crucial as any downtime or congestion can significantly impact trading operations and order execution,” Benkitis affirmed.
However, Solana has successfully curbed the number of outages it has experienced. Once notorious for the frequency of its shutdowns, the last time Solana experienced one was in February 2024.
Meanwhile, developers designed Solana’s upcoming Firedancer validator client to improve network stability and transaction processing. Its distinct codebase offers greater resilience against widespread outages and will enhance Solana’s performance.
Yet, Solana must also mitigate centralization concerns to improve its chances of obtaining ETF approval.
Centralization Concerns
Solana’s validator node requirements, which demand significant hardware investments, can create barriers to entry. These obstacles can potentially concentrate power within the network among those capable of affording the necessary infrastructure.
In turn, the protocol’s limited number of validators compared to other networks raises concerns over centralization. For context, while Solana currently has around 2,000 active validators, Ethereum passed the one million benchmark last year—the largest number recorded by any blockchain network.
Though Solana’s hardware reliance speeds up the network, it also raises decentralization concerns. Benkitis factored this aspect into his evaluation of an ETF approval.
Its currently underdeveloped futures market infrastructure further complicates Solana’s viability as an ETF candidate.
Its filings were unprecedented because the network did not have a previously established futures market. This factor was crucial in determining an ETF approval for Bitcoin and Ethereum.
“The lack of CME futures and institutional frameworks comparable to BTC/ETH could influence [the SEC’s] evaluation,” Lai said.
He added that the proliferation of meme tokens minted on Solana could present themselves as a potential roadblock.
“Market reactions reflect Solana’s emergence as the primary driver of this cycle, with DEX volumes exceeding $100 billion and dominating major aggregators. However, I believe the temporary nature of trending themes suggests continued volatility. While technological advancement and growing institutional adoption may provide stronger foundations, we need to maintain perspective on the cyclical nature of crypto trends,” Lai said.
This more recent development in Solana’s attraction also brings its set of downsides.
Meme Coin Influence and Regulatory Concerns
The expanding meme coin market on Solana partially explains its popularity. Platforms like Pump.fun allow anyone to launch their tokens, and this design has even led to celebrities launching their tokens on the platform.
More recently, political figures like Donald Trump and Argentine president Javier Milei have also launched meme tokens on Solana platforms. Yet, these activities have proven to be high-risk. In many cases, meme coin investments have caused smaller retailers millions of dollars in losses.
Benkitis said that the SEC might frown upon the speculative nature of these trading activities.
“While an ETF approval could unlock liquidity opportunities, the market’s heavy dependence on speculative sentiment calls for a measured and cautious approach,” he said.
With so many considerations, approving a Solana ETF in 2025 is far from guaranteed. The SEC’s eventual decision will be a defining moment for the network and the broader crypto industry.
