Digital Asset Treasuries - The Public Market's Leveraged Bitcoin Bet
Digital Asset Treasuries - The Public Market's Leveraged Bitcoin Bet
Last month, we spotlighted dynamic developments in blockchain and AI – use cases, adoption, regulation, exits from M&A, IPO’s, and SPACs all illustrate the tremendous surge forward we have seen so far this year in the movement towards digital monies, commodities and assets.
This week, we turn to a powerful new public-market phenomenon: Digital Asset Treasuries (DATs). These corporate structures blend equity with significant holdings of digital assets—predominantly Bitcoin—providing shareholders with leveraged exposure to crypto markets.
What are they, how many are there, how do they work and why do they have premiums, what are their prospects, and what does it all mean for our investors?
WHAT IS A DIGITAL ASSET TREASURY?
A Digital Asset Treasury (DAT) is a publicly traded company whose balance sheet strategy revolves around holding significant digital asset positions—most often Bitcoin—as a core treasury reserve. The defining characteristic is intentional, active management: DATs raise capital through equity, convertible debt, or preferred stock, and deploy the proceeds into acquiring more digital assets. They also manage operational cash flows and sometimes generate yield through lending, staking, or strategic partnerships.
The overarching objective of a DAT is to maximize their crypto holding per share. In the case of most DATs that means maximizing Bitcoin per Share (BTC/Share) over time. This metric represents how much Bitcoin each outstanding share entitles the investor to. DATs strive to grow BTC/Share consistently so that investors not only benefit from Bitcoin’s price appreciation but also from the increasing quantity of Bitcoin underlying each share.
HOW MANY ARE THERE?
This was an easy question to answer a year ago. There were very few, and first among them was MicroStrategy, which was the former software distribution company of Michael Saylor that he had pivoted towards one primary objective – own as much Bitcoin as possible.
Today it is much harder to be definitive since there are so many new entities standing up to pursue DAT strategies; existing public companies and shells pivoting to become DATs including through SPAC transactions and reverse shell mergers; and ongoing operating businesses beginning to hold ever greater values of digital assets on their balance sheets.
To give you some sense of this explosion of interest, here are four specific examples of new DATs that have been supported by our partners Cantor Fitzgerald and Cohen & Company:
21 (Twenty One Capital) via Cantor SPAC, backed by Tether, SoftBank & Bitfinex:
Formed through a SPAC merger between Cantor Equity Partners (backed by Cantor Fitzgerald, led by Brandon Lutnick, son of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick) and a crypto venture co-founded by Jack Mallers.
Launched with over 42,000 BTC contributed by Tether, SoftBank, and Bitfinex, valuing the company at ~ $3.6 billion at inception.
Raised $585 million via PIPE financing ($385M in convertible notes and $200M in equity) and $100M from the SPAC trust account—deployed to acquire Bitcoin and fund treasury operations.
Nakamoto Holdings former via a merger with KindlyMD:
Public Bitcoin treasury company backed by David Bailey, formed through a business combination with KindlyMD.
Capital Raised: Roughly $710 million to launch the enterprise, plus an additional $51.5 million PIPE, totaling ≈$761.5 million.
Know Labs led by Greg Kidd and renamed USBC:
DeSpac merger with Know Labs, Inc., now rebranded as USBC under leadership of Greg Kidd (ex-Ripple Chief Risk Officer).
1,000 BTC plus $15 million in cash in exchange for equity (≈$128 million market cap at closing) supported by Cohen & Company and ourselves.
BSTR Holdings formed by Adam Back with a Cantor Fitzgerald SPAC:
Cantor Equity Partners 1 SPAC, chaired by Brandon Lutnick (son of Howard Lutnick, Cantor Chairman) utilized to create a new DAT.
Plans to acquire 30,000 BTC (~$3.5–$4 billion in-kind from Adam Back), plus raising $800 million in new capital—implying a total structured deal approaching $4 billion.
These four examples are illustrative of the scale of the new DATs and the appetite from Wall Street for this new type of public company.
Exhibit 1 lists out the leading public Bitcoin DATs at the time of writing, and includes the total Bitcoin held and the current market capitalization of each.
Exhibit 1 – Leading Public DATs (as of August 2025)
(All BTC holdings are latest available; * indicates prior reporting period)
During July and into August we have seen an acceleration of going public events to create new DATs including through SPACs and reverse shell mergers.
WHAT ASSETS DO DATs HOLD?
While Bitcoin dominates DAT balance sheets, the industry is gradually diversifying. Today approximately 85% of all public DAT holdings are Bitcoin. Ethereum-focused DATs offer exposure to ETH and staking yields, Solana is represented via smaller, more concentrated vehicles giving public investors rare listed exposure to SOL, and so on. Some examples follow:
Ethereum (ETH) — BitMine Immersion is building what is now the largest corporate ETH treasury with 833,000 ETH (~$2.9B), staked for yield.
Solana (SOL) — Upexi holds 2M SOL (~$320M) with ~8% staking yield underway.
Stablecoins (USDT, USDC) — Many DATs maintain working capital buffers here for liquidity and deployment flexibility.
Layer 1 Tokens — A handful are diversifying into Avalanche (AVAX), Polygon (MATIC), and others to hedge broader ecosystem dynamics.
Tokenized RWAs — A few treasuries are experimenting with on-chain Sukuk, municipal bonds, or other tokenized yields.
Experimentation is of course a hallmark of private markets, but we have yet to learn which of these various types of public DATs will have long term acceptance in the public markets.
DATs OUTSIDE THE USA
Public DATs are also gaining traction in international markets. As examples:
UK – Argo Blockchain (LSE): ~2,200 BTC
Japan – Metaplanet Inc. (TSE): ~17,595 BTC
Hong Kong – Boyaa Interactive (HKEX): ~3,350 BTC
Switzerland/Germany – Bitcoin Group SE (Frankfurt): ~3,605 BTC
These companies leverage local investor demand to deliver crypto exposure beyond the U.S. In some markets, US public companies are hard to access, or there may be specific tax, legal or regulatory reasons why locally listed DATs provide advantages of US listings.
THE STRATEGY PLAYBOOK – MICHAEL SAYLOR
Michael Saylor, Executive Chairman of MicroStrategy, has pioneered a leveraged Bitcoin treasury strategy. His playbook includes:
ATM Equity Issuance: Selling new shares into market rallies to fund BTC purchases.
Convertible Debt: Low-coupon, long-maturity bonds convertible into stock.
Secured Debt: Loans collateralized by Bitcoin, preserving equity value.
Preferred Stock: Raising capital from strategic investors without immediate dilution.
Operational Discipline: Maintaining lean operations so nearly all capital goes into BTC.
By laddering issuance types and timing raises to Bitcoin’s price cycles, MicroStrategy has compounded BTC/Share while minimizing net dilution.
Saylor has published a whitepaper on the details of the MicroStrategy playbook for those of you who wish to learn more.
DAT PREMIUMS AND THEIR FUTURE
DATs often trade at premiums to their net asset value due to:
Leverage effects via equity/debt issuance.
Access proxies in markets without ETF infrastructure.
Strong leadership narratives, e.g., MicroStrategy’s Saylor-driven model.
Some in the industry believe that premiums can persist for the long term when management is disciplined, issuance is accretive to BTC/Share, and market sentiment is bullish. However, others argue that increased access to ETFs, potential regulatory shifts, or poor treasury execution may compress premiums over time.
POSSIBLE FUTURES FOR THE DAT INDUSTRY
Looking forward, we see four possible futures for the DAT industry:
Premium Persistence – Best-run DATs keep premiums through disciplined capital raises, deep liquidity, and consistent BTC/Share growth.
NAV Convergence – Competition from ETFs and lower-cost vehicles compresses premiums for all but the most unique DATs.
Multi-Asset Expansion – DATs evolve into broader digital treasuries, incorporating multiple tokens, RWAs, and DeFi yield strategies.
Volatility Shock – Poor governance, dilution, or macro shocks could cause abrupt valuation resets.
In the past we have seen that when capital flows very quickly in large volumes from Wall Street into new investment strategies, the results may include a period of retrenchment. Whether this will be true for the emerging DAT industry we will of course all find out.
IMPLICATIONS FOR INVESTORS
For investors, DATs can offer high-beta digital asset exposure with potential upside from treasury growth, but they also carry corporate execution and dilution risks. Careful selection of DATs with strong management, prudent capital strategy, and consistent BTC/Share growth is essential:
Opportunity – Liquidity plus leveraged digital asset exposure via public equities.
Risk – Volatility, dilution, regulatory shifts, and credit risk.
Due Diligence – Focus on Digital Asset/Share growth, issuance discipline, token diversification and leadership team.
Strategic Fit – DATs can complement ETFs, direct holdings, and staking strategies in a diversified portfolio, but a new and as yet unproven over the long term.
As always, investors need to balance new and potential attractive investment potential against the risks that come from being first into a new investment strategy.
CONCLUSIONS
A year ago, the only digital asset treasury that most investors had heard of was Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy with its exclusive focus on Bitcoin accumulation. This year, the playbook has been utilized by a large and growing number of new public companies to build out DATs on most markets and for many digital assets although Bitcoin continues to dominate. The scale and scope of this new breed of public company has surprised many and the amount of capital flowing into the strategy is remarkable. However, as with all new investment strategies, some caution is only prudent. Not all will succeed.
Please reach out to us to hear more about the new acceleration in Blockchain and AI that we are living through. We are constantly working to provide early stage diversified access to Blockchain ventures and into AI and the Future of Intelligence and Computing so please reach out at IR@BlockchainCoinvestors.com to discuss further.
Thank you for reading,
The Blockchain Coinvestors Partners
About Blockchain Coinvestors
Blockchain Coinvestors invests in blockchain businesses. Our vision is that digital monies, commodities, and assets are inevitable and all of the world’s financial infrastructure must be upgraded. Our mission is to provide broad coverage of early stage blockchain investments and access to emerging blockchain unicorns. Blockchain Coinvestors’ investment strategies are now in their 12th year and to date we have invested in a combined portfolio of 1,250 blockchain companies and projects including more than 110 blockchain unicorns. Visit us at www.BlockchainCoinvestors.com to learn more.
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