Treasury firms stack Ethereum, Solana, and Bitcoin through a jittery September market

Public crypto treasury companies kept buying Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana last week even as digital assets moved through a volatile September and traders braced for a Federal Reserve rate decision.

BitMine Immersion Technologies, DeFi Development Corp. and Strive all expanded their crypto holdings. Strategy, the largest public Bitcoin holder, was the exception. The company left its Bitcoin position unchanged while using cash to repurchase its preferred shares.

BitMine and DFDV expand their crypto treasury

BitMine Immersion Technologies added 27,180 ETH last week, taking its total holdings to 5.956 million ETH. That represents roughly 4.9% of Ethereum's circulating supply, putting the company just below its stated 5% target.

Around 5.07 million ETH from the treasury is currently staked. BitMine values its combined crypto and cash holdings at approximately $15.8 billion.

The company continues to maintain a bullish view on Ethereum. Tom DeMark, founder of DeMark Analytics and a capital markets advisor to BitMine, said the expiration of a 12-day metric following Ethereum's sideways August action supports the possibility of another move higher.

DeFi Development Corp., the Nasdaq-listed Solana treasury company, also continued accumulating. Its holdings have increased 2% to 2.39 million SOL since August 27.

The company also opened a $300 million at the market program for CHAD, its Solana-backed preferred stock, providing another potential source of capital for its treasury strategy.

Strive adds Bitcoin as Strategy sits out

Strive, the fifth-largest public Bitcoin treasury company, purchased 469 BTC between September 8 and 11 at an average price of $77,954.

The purchase brought its total holdings to 25,000 BTC, worth roughly $1.95 billion at current prices. The company funded the latest acquisition through sales of its SATA perpetual preferred stock.

Strategy took a different approach.

The company did not buy or sell Bitcoin during the period, leaving its holdings at 845,050 BTC at an average cost of $75,412 per coin. Instead, Strategy repurchased about $139 million of its STRC preferred stock.

The decision marks a temporary shift in capital allocation for the largest public Bitcoin holder. Strategy's earlier $370 million Bitcoin purchase showed how aggressively the company has continued to build its Bitcoin treasury, making the latest pause notable.

Strategy also said it held $6.4 billion in U.S. dollar assets as of September 13.

Treasury buying faces a tougher macro test

The purchases come at a critical point for crypto markets.

The Federal Open Market Committee is scheduled to announce its interest rate decision on September 16, with markets increasingly pricing in a rate hike.

CME FedWatch showed the probability of a quarter-point increase at 85.6% on September 11, compared with 48.4% a month earlier. More recent market pricing has moved even higher as persistent inflation and rising oil prices strengthened expectations for tighter policy.

Higher interest rates can put pressure on assets such as Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies because they increase the relative attractiveness of yield-bearing investments.

That creates an important test for public crypto treasuries. These companies are continuing to accumulate assets even while the broader market faces a less supportive macro environment.

Three different treasury strategies

The latest moves also show how different public companies are approaching crypto exposure.

BitMine is building an Ethereum treasury while staking a large portion of its holdings, giving the company exposure to ETH alongside potential staking returns.

DFDV is focused on Solana and is using preferred-stock financing to expand its treasury.

Strive continues to accumulate Bitcoin, reaching 25,000 BTC with its latest purchase.

Strategy, meanwhile, has temporarily prioritized capital management over additional Bitcoin purchases, using $139 million to repurchase STRC preferred shares instead.

The differences matter because crypto treasury companies are not simply competing on how many tokens they hold. Their financing structures, capital costs, staking strategies and ability to raise additional funds can all influence how aggressively they can continue accumulating.

The Fed decision is the next test

For now, treasury accumulation remains intact despite the softer September market.

BitMine continues to add ETH, DFDV is expanding its SOL position, and Strive has reached a new Bitcoin milestone. Strategy has paused its accumulation but remains by far the largest public Bitcoin holder.

The bigger question is what happens if the Federal Reserve delivers the rate hike markets are now expecting.

A sustained period of higher rates could make further treasury purchases more expensive and put additional pressure on crypto prices. At the same time, a market pullback could create cheaper entry points for companies that remain committed to accumulation.

That leaves the coming weeks as an important test of whether corporate crypto treasury strategies can continue expanding through a more challenging macro environment.