Why We're Bullish Eth, XRPs Dip, Tokenising Luxury Real Estate

Hi Reader,

Thanks for reading The BlockByte Weekly, where we summarise the key updates in crypto over the last week and provide our perspective on what you need to know as an investor.​
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Weekly Snapshot

• BTC: $118,286 (~A$80,373) (+0.3%)
• Crypto Market Cap: $3.85T (+1.2%)
• Gold: $3,336/oz (+0.0%)
• S&P 500: 6,388 (+1.8%)
• ASX 200: 8,660 (-0.5%)
• 10-Year Treasury Yield: 4.38% (-0.3%)

Executive Summary

Ethereum made headlines this week as 3 major institutions announced Ether treasury strategies. ARK Invest committed US $182 million to BitMine, while The Ether Machine entered the race with a massive US $1.5 billion ETH treasury, backed by Pantera Capital and others. SharpLink also has over US $1 billion in Ethereum with plans to scale this to US $6 billion.

Meanwhile, Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen’s US $140 million XRP caused a brief price dip and stirred fresh debate over large holder activity, and the broader altcoin market saw a sharp but expected pullback following weeks of outsized gains.

Christie’s also entered the crypto market in a major way, announcing plans to facilitate over US $1 billion in luxury property sales using cryptocurrency.

Key Stories This Week

Ethereum Significantly Outperforms Bitcoin Over the Last 3 Months, ETH Treasuries Are Why

Ethereum surged back into the spotlight this week as multiple institutional moves confirmed its growing role as a strategic asset. ARK Invest purchased US $182 million worth of BitMine shares, supporting the company’s Ethereum treasury strategy, which now holds over 300,000 ETH (US $1.1 billion). In parallel, a new Nasdaq-listed competitor emerged—The Ether Machine—launching with a US $1.5 billion Ether treasury. Backed by large crypto funds and players such as Pantera Capital, Blockchain.com, and Kraken, the firm aims to position ETH as the core asset for future financial infrastructure.

Ethereum is now up 110.3% in the last 3 months compared to Bitcoin (+25.4%).

CEO of BitMine Andrew Keys described Ethereum as “the iPhone to Bitcoin’s landline” in a CNBC interview, citing its superior flexibility, programmability, and ability to tokenise real-world assets. Meanwhile, SharpLink has also flagged plans to expand its Ether treasury from US $1 billion to US $6 billion in the coming months, recently bringing across a new executive from BlackRock, Joseph Chalom, who oversaw the launch of the BlackRock Ethereum ETF. With multiple firms now racing to accumulate ETH at scale, we maintain a very bullish outlook for Ethereum. Currently, SharpLink is trading at the lowest multiple of net asset value (mNAV) across the top Ether treasury companies.

Top 3 Ethereum Treasuries

Ripple Co-Founder Moves US $140 Million in XRP

Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen transferred 50 million XRP—worth roughly US $140 million—to exchange-linked wallets this week, sparking concerns of potential selling pressure. Larsen is still believed to hold 2.81 billion XRP (over US $9 billion), highlighting how concentrated XRP supply remains in the hands of early founders and insiders.

The timing follows a strong rally in XRP, which gained over 80% in the past month and briefly touched US $3.64 before pulling back to a support level around US $3.19. While large moves like this often trigger volatility, XRP remains one of the more actively traded altcoins. If the alt market has a continued rally, don't be surprised to see XRP breaking new highs either. Though, in a pullback, we expect XRP to underperform large caps like Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Christie’s Opens US $1 Billion in Real Estate to Crypto

Christie’s International Real Estate has officially launched a new division aimed at facilitating over US $1 billion in luxury property transactions using cryptocurrency. This follows a landmark US $65 million crypto-based property sale in Beverly Hills and underscores growing institutional confidence in using stablecoins for large-scale settlement.

The initiative, led by high-end broker Aaron Kirman, will provide global buyers with access to elite properties using crypto—eliminating intermediaries and reducing transaction friction. With over US $261 billion in stablecoin liquidity now circulating, crypto-native property settlement could soon become a preferred method, especially in cross-border purchases and high-net-worth deals.

With institutions now entering the digital asset space across all sectors, we'll look forward to sharing our half-year investor report with you later this week with some of the key trends from the first half of 2025, and some of the opportunities going forward.

Until next week,
James

James Brannan
Managing Director
BlockByte
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(+61) 412 393 634
​james@blockbyte.com.au​
​https://blockbyte.com.au/​

BlockByte does not provide financial advice. We provide a personalised brokerage service with tailored support, research and secure custody for investing in digital assets. Reach out to our team to discuss how we can help.

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