Crypto Biz: Bitcoin’s corporate moment, ICE’s bold bet, Tether’s expanding footprint
Bitcoin is increasingly finding its place in corporate treasuries, with firms like MicroStrategy and Metaplanet leading the charge. As of September 30, 2025, 176 companies collectively held 1,033,866 BTC, valued at approximately $117 billion. DDC Enterprise, for example, recently raised $124 million to increase its Bitcoin holdings, aiming to acquire 10,000 BTC by the end of 2025. Block's "Square Bitcoin" initiative, allowing merchants to accept Bitcoin, is viewed as a significant step in Bitcoin's evolution as a payment method. This move could add $200–$300 million in gross profit for Block if adoption gains traction. Institutional investors are also planning to increase their Bitcoin investments, with over half intending to double their crypto holdings by 2028. State Street's 2025 Digital Assets Outlook suggests a shift from experimentation to full-scale integration of digital assets among institutions.
Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), is making a significant move into the crypto space with a $2 billion investment in Polymarket, a decentralized prediction-market platform. This investment values Polymarket at $8 billion pre-investment. ICE will distribute Polymarket's event-driven data to its institutional clients, turning crowdsourced sentiment into a financial product. Polymarket regained access to the U.S. market earlier this year after acquiring QCX, a derivatives exchange. ICE's investment signals traditional finance's growing interest in crypto and a strategic pivot toward alternative data. ICE CEO Jeffrey Sprecher stated that the investment blends ICE, founded in 1792, with a forward-thinking company pioneering change within the Decentralized Finance space.
Tether is aggressively expanding its reach beyond stablecoins into sectors like AI, energy, media, and commodity trading. The company is reportedly seeking $20 billion in funding through a private placement, potentially valuing the company at $500 billion. Tether's expansion strategy mirrors the approach of companies like OpenAI and SpaceX. Tether is also preparing to launch a U.S.-domiciled stablecoin, USAT, designed for payments and institutional finance, to comply with American regulatory frameworks. Tether's circulating supply of USDT exceeds $173 billion, capturing 56% of the stablecoin market. In Q3 2025, Tether purchased 8,888.889 BTC worth $1 billion, bringing its total holdings to an estimated $10 billion. Tether and Antalpha are also collaborating to expand the 'on-chain gold' ecosystem, with Tether seeking to raise up to $200 million for its gold-backed token, XAUt.
