The Ether Machine and GameSquare buy millions of dollars more ETH as Ethereum treasury play accelerates

The Ether Machine announced it had bought another 10,605 ETH for approximately $40 million on Monday — solidifying its position as a top three Ethereum treasury holder after surpassing the Ethereum Foundation last week.

The purchase was made from part of $97 million in cash proceeds from the firm's previously announced private placement. The continued accumulation builds on its 15,000 ETH buy on Ethereum's 10th anniversary, reflecting The Ether Machine’s conviction in ETH and its goal to build a long-term, yield-generating institutional treasury, the company said in a statement.

The firm's holdings now total 345,362 ETH ($1.2 billion), behind only Tom Lee's BitMine and Joe Lubin's SharpLink in the strategic ETH reserve rankings, according to data from SER. BitMine also declared Monday that its holdings have now reached 833,137 ETH ($2.9 billion) following its latest acquisitions, The Block earlier reported. Meanwhile, SharpLink's holdings are up to 480,031 ETH ($1.7 billion) after a duo of weekend purchases, according to onchain data from Arkham, though the firm has yet to officially acknowledge the acquisitions.

"Our mandate is to buy ETH, stake it, restake it, and put it to work onchain, in full view of the public markets," The Ether Machine Chairman and co-founder Andrew Keys said. "This isn't passive exposure. We're building a machine designed to grow Ethereum's capital base, reinforce its infrastructure, and align with its most committed stewards."

The Ether Machine plans to go public in Q4 under the ticker ETHM after completing a merger with Nasdaq-listed Dynamix Corp, targeting a $1.6 billion raise.

GameSquare adds another $10 million worth of ether

Meanwhile, Nasdaq-listed media and entertainment firm turned Ethereum treasury company GameSquare also disclosed a further acquisition of 2,717 ETH for approximately $10 million on Monday, taking its total holdings to just over 15,630 ETH ($55.9 million).

That places GameSquare in the top 20 strategic ETH reserve rankings, per SER, just behind the Optimism Foundation among a total 65 entities.

GameSquare also confirmed the launch of its strategy using Dialectic's onchain yield platform, which commenced on Aug. 1, targeting annualized yields of 8% to 14% as part of its crypto-native treasury initiative.

Funded by proceeds from such onchain yields, GameSquare's board of directors has authorized a $5 million stock buyback program, with shares to be repurchased at the company's discretion over time through open market repurchases, privately negotiated transactions, or other means, the firm said in a press release. The company’s previously announced authorization to allocate up to $250 million toward its Ethereum treasury strategy remains in place and will support potential expansion over time, it added.

"We are taking a clear and disciplined approach to capital allocation," GameSquare CEO Justin Kenna said. "Every dollar of net income our Ethereum yield strategy generates can be used to buy back our stock, provided it trades below $1.50 per share under our current plan. This reflects our belief that the current market value does not fully capture the long-term earnings potential of our operating businesses or our treasury management strategy."

On July 24, GameSquare bought a CryptoPunk NFT from Superstate founder Robert Leshner for $5.15 million worth of its preferred shares and said it will also hold the "iconic" piece as a "strategic treasury asset."