MetalphaPro, a Nasdaq-based digital asset management firm, recently purchased 18,000 Ethereum (ETH) for about $48.45 million. The assets were removed from the Binance exchange 10 hours before the report, and the transaction took place. Following the transfer, MetalphaPro began depositing these assets into a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol.
The purchase is part of an ongoing trend among institutional crypto managers to become actively involved in DeFi ecosystems. The acquisition marks the next milestone in MetalphaPro's history of converting and lending assets, with the company likely to operate to maximize the utility of crypto assets.
MetalphaPro has now taken control of over 48,000 stETH, equivalent to over $133 million, across DeFi platforms. The company has diversified the stETH assets across various protocols, including Aave, Spark, and Treehouse Finance. Most platforms allow users to lend or borrow digital assets using blockchain-based smart contracts. By lending assets in DeFi protocols, MetalphaPro can receive returns without transferring title to the assets.
The firm deposited the ETH in staked Ethereum (stETH), which enables it to earn interest without being exposed to asset exposure. By staking Ethereum, the company will be able to earn a yield instead of just holding the digital assets on centralized exchanges.
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This latest ETH purchase is not the first activity MetalphaPro has seen in April. In April, it deposited 25 million USDC on Binance and then withdrew 7,000 ETH, worth $11.12 million at the time. In total, this firm has withdrawn 29,000 ETH from Binance, at an average purchase price of around $1,680. Institutional buyers are also becoming familiar with the asset, with corporations such as Sharplink announcing an intention to purchase $1 billion of ETH.
DeFi protocols, including Aave and Spark, offer multiple lending and borrowing facilities, and firms like MetalphaPro implement them to allow the more efficient management of digital asset portfolios. This model provides an alternative to traditional conservative holding strategies. MetalphaPro does not leave funds on centralized exchanges but transfers them to decentralized conditions, making assets more productive. It is an indication of an increasing institutional bias towards actively managing crypto.