Public Companies Shift Focus from Bitcoin to AI Tokens and Meme Coins

Firms move billions into Ethereum, AI tokens, and meme coins as corporate crypto treasuries diversify

Public Companies Shift Focus from Bitcoin to AI Tokens and Meme Coins. Source: Shutterstock
Source: Shutterstock

The hype around corporate crypto reserve strategies is reaching a new level. While public companies once bet mainly on "blue chips" like Bitcoin and Ethereum, they are now forming treasuries made up of more "exotic" assets—AI tokens and even meme coins.

Public Firms Accumulating Ether

Nasdaq-listed SharpLink Gaming has acquired 18,712 ETH via Galaxy Digital and 14,180 ETH via Coinbase Prime, according to analysts at Arkham Intelligence.

Strategic ETH Reserve reports that SharpLink now manages more than 280,000 ETH tokens, valued at $1 billion.

The top 10 largest holders of Ethereum. Source: Strategic ETH Reserve.
The top 10 largest holders of Ethereum. Source: Strategic ETH Reserve.

Lookonchain notes that in the last nine days alone, the company has purchased 144,501 ETH worth $515 million.

On July 16, the publicly traded SharpLink rivaled the nonprofit Ethereum Foundation in terms of the amount of ether in its reserves.

Another $5 Billion for Ethereum?

On July 17, SharpLink updated its prospectus regarding the total amount of shares available for sale, increasing the amount from $1 billion to $6 billion.

SharpLink has already sold $721 million worth of securities. The company can raise another $279 million under the previous prospectus and $5 billion under the new one. These funds are expected to support further Ethereum purchases.

Initially, SharpLink was focused on marketing and gambling software. In June, the company received $425 million from ConsenSys, backed by Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin, who subsequently became chairman of SharpLink’s board of directors.

SharpLink then decided to adopt ConsenSys’s strategy, but shifted its bet to ether. Other publicly traded firms are taking similar steps. Earlier, Nasdaq-listed mining company Bit Digital announced it had raised $67.3 million to purchase Ethereum.

On July 18, it was reported that the crypto miner had bought 19,683 ETH with these funds.

Building Low-Liquidity Treasuries

Meanwhile, another Nasdaq-listed company, TAO Synergies Inc., has made a significant investment in Bittensor. On July 18, the firm purchased 29,899 TAO tokens valued at $10 million to form a cryptocurrency treasury. According to a press release, the average purchase price was $415.

TAO Synergies is staking all these assets on the Bittensor platform, which rewards users for artificial intelligence training. Executive chairman Joshua Silverman said the company would continue buying TAO tokens.

“We believe TAO will continue to grow as decentralized AI evolves and takes an increasing share of overall spending on AI-enabled technologies,” he added.

Bittensor’s native token did not react to the news. According to TradingView, TAO was trading at $417 at the time of writing.

Even Memes are in Play

Mining infrastructure company Bit Origin has announced it has secured a $500 million investment in Dogecoin. The firm aims to create one of the first corporate treasuries based on the oldest memecoin.

According to a press release, Bit Origin entered agreements with accredited investors to sell $400 million in shares and issue $100 million in convertible bonds. The company has already closed the first tranche of $15 million.

“What started as a joke has evolved into a globally liquid asset with payments utility. Few digital assets rival Doge’s settlement speed and scale of community, which continues to drive adoption across peer-to-peer payments and online commerce.” said CEO Jinghai Jiang.

Bit Origin plans to develop services for miners, payment solutions, and other projects in the Dogecoin ecosystem.

According to CoinGecko, DOGE has surged more than 16% in the past 24 hours. At the time of writing, the meme coin is trading at $0.25.

Public Companies Shift Focus from Bitcoin to AI Tokens and Meme Coins. Source: Shutterstock
Source: Shutterstock

Earlier, Canadian company Neptune Digital Assets also made Dogecoin part of its investment strategy. A similar move was made by Dogecoin Cash Inc., which previously operated in the cannabis industry.