ETH Goes Public. And Big.

PLUS: Pump.fun flops post-ICO and UK considers $7B Bitcoin liquidation

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Cryptopolitan News
July 21, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 10 minutes

🧠 Ether machine is going public

A new investment vehicle called Ether Machine is going public on Nasdaq with a war chest of $1.5 billion and 400,000 ETH (worth over $1.3 billion) already on its balance sheet.

This isn’t just another crypto listing.

It’s the result of a reverse merger where a private company (The Ether Reserve) merges with a public shell company (Dynamix Corp) to get listed without a traditional IPO. This shortcut is often used in fast-moving industries to go public quickly.

Once it hits the ticker under ETHM, Ether Machine will become the largest public company built solely to hold ETH and generate yield from it.

Think of it like MicroStrategy for Ethereum but instead of Michael Saylor and Bitcoin, it's Kraken, Pantera Capital, and Blockchain.com backing ETH.

Who’s backing it?

  • Over $800 million came from big-name crypto firms, including Kraken, Pantera, and Blockchain.com

  • Andrew Keys, former ConsenSys executive (a firm that helped build Ethereum tools), is now chairman

  • The new company’s strategy is to hold ETH, stake it, and offer traditional investors direct exposure through stock markets

Ethereum is on fire right now:

ETH heads towards $4k after rising 25% in 7 days

  • ETH investment products saw a record $2.12 billion in inflows last week — beating its own all-time high

  • That marks 13 weeks in a row of ETH inflows from institutions

  • Total 2025 inflows are already at $6.2 billion, surpassing all of 2024

  • U.S. investors led the charge, responsible for $4.36B of last week’s $4.39B in global crypto inflows

ETH isn’t just rising. It’s being adopted as a core portfolio asset, says analyst Ryan Selkis. This is no longer speculative. This is structural.

Several upgrades are underway by core developers, including the integration of 11 Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs).

📈 Market Watch

Pump.fun just became the third-largest ICO in crypto history, raising a staggering $500 million at a $6 billion valuation for its meme launchpad platform.

That puts it right behind TON and EOS, beating out most 2017-era token sales — and even rivaling the IPO valuation of Circle.

But just two days later… the price is falling fast.

What went wrong?

Despite the hype, PUMP dropped from over $0.006 to just $0.004, even after a buyback attempt by the team. The token's launch was plagued by:

  • Whale dominance: 202 wallets spent over $1 million each

  • Neglected community: 55% of buyers contributed less than $1,000 — yet got no airdrop

  • Instant sell-offs: Nearly 3,000 wallets dumped their tokens on exchanges immediately

  • Even the developer wallet sold, sparking outrage

📉 According to Dune Analytics:

  • Only 1,850 wallets held their full allocation after launch

  • Over 5,000 wallets moved tokens post-sale

  • Trading volume dried up fast

Competition is heating up

While Pump.fun fumbled, its upstart rival Let’sBonk is gaining serious traction:

In the past 24 hours:

  • Pump.fun fees: $550K

  • Let’sBonk fees: $1.69M

  • PumpSwap DEX: $1.66M

Let’sBonk has already birthed its first $10M token, and its meme economy is moving faster than Pump.fun’s.

What it means:

Pump.fun still has name recognition and momentum, but it’s no longer the only game in town. If it doesn’t course-correct soon, through community incentives, real utility, or platform upgrades: it risks getting out-memed by competitors with better user alignment.

A whale acquired 45 Crypto Punk NFTs, boosting the collection’s floor price by 20%. Interest in Crypto Punks spiked for the first time since Yuga Labs sold the intellectual rights of the NFT collection.

⛓️ Regulation Watch

UK eyes $7.1B Bitcoin stash sale to plug economic gap

The UK government may soon sell off over $7.1 billion worth of seized Bitcoin, making it one of the biggest crypto liquidations ever.

The 61,000 BTC in question were confiscated during a 2018 operation targeting a Chinese Ponzi scheme that used the UK as a crypto safe haven. Back then, the Bitcoin was worth a fraction of today’s value. But with BTC now trading around the $120k range, the trove has become a potential fiscal lifeline.

Why now?

Britain is facing a £20 billion fiscal shortfall, and the Treasury is desperate for solutions.

  • The economy is stagnant

  • Borrowing costs are rising

  • Inflation remains stubborn

  • Raising taxes would be politically risky

Selling Bitcoin isn’t a typical fix but it’s being seriously considered. Ministers are looking at a new “cryptoasset holding and realization framework” that would let law enforcement securely store, sell, and distribute seized digital assets.

Bitcoin on the brink?

The crypto market reacted fast.

News of the potential sale triggered fears of selling pressure, especially given the sheer scale. If 61,000 BTC hit the market, it could sway prices or at the very least, sentiment.

  • Traders are watching closely

  • The Treasury hasn’t confirmed the sale

  • Legal challenges from scam victims could delay the process

But the direction is clear: governments are getting more serious about handling crypto.

Sovereign strategy or cash-out moment?

There’s a broader debate playing out in the UK:

  • Reform UK’s Nigel Farage wants Britain to hold Bitcoin as sovereign wealth

  • Labour sees crypto as too volatile and prefers to liquidate for fiscal relief

Farage even called for a “crypto revolution” in a Las Vegas speech, urging the UK to become a global digital asset leader.

But Labour’s Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, is taking a cautious and pragmatic approach. Her focus? Using seized Bitcoin to plug economic holes, not build a national crypto reserve.

Big picture

Crypto is no longer a fringe asset in crime or finance.

Law enforcement now treats it as seriously as cash and is getting better at tracing, freezing, and eventually selling it. The National Crime Agency and local police forces will ultimately decide what happens with this Bitcoin.

If the UK sells, it won’t just be a budgetary event it will be a market signal about how UK treats crypto holdings going forward.

Other countries passed real laws while the UK remains stuck in meetings and bureaucracy.

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21st July

On July 21, 2021, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission formally kicked off its lawsuit against Ripple Labs, alleging XRP was sold as an unregistered security in a $1.3B offering.

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