Will a MicroStrategy Counterpart Emerge for Ethereum?

According to Jake Ostrovskis, an over-the-counter (OTC) trader at market-making firm Wintermute, the growing trend of companies adding Bitcoin to their balance sheets could significantly increase demand for cryptocurrencies in 2025.

Ostrovskis noted the growing interest of corporations, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and traditional institutions to adopt Bitcoin as a strategic asset.

“I think that’s going to be a pretty big driver next year as institutions as well as corporates move into Bitcoin,” Ostrovskis said. “You’ll probably see SMEs coming in as well.”

This trend has been largely fueled by MicroStrategy, a commercial IT firm that has purchased over $10 billion worth of Bitcoin and plans to purchase another $42 billion, leveraging its equity capital to fund the purchases.

Ostrovskis cited Bitcoin mining giants Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA) and Riot Platforms as examples of firms issuing convertible bonds to fund Bitcoin purchases. Earlier this week, tech firm Metaplanet announced plans to raise $31.8 million through a bond issue to accelerate Bitcoin purchases.

“People talk about the impact of ETFs, and the main driver of that is that now pension funds and sovereign wealth funds can invest cash,” Ostrovskis said. “But there’s another pool of capital in corporates that’s probably a little bit freer and probably moves faster than waiting for pension funds to come in and buy Bitcoin ETFs.”

“It’s probably only a matter of time before someone does the same thing and turns themselves into an Ethereum investment vehicle,” he said. “At that point, you become the MicroStrategy of that world.”

*This is not investment advice.