Digital asset treasuries lost $25B after the latest crypto slide

Digital asset treasuries were supposed to preserve value and make holders influential on staking networks. To date, DAT companies wiped out $25B in value from crypto losses. 

The crypto drawdown is heavily affecting digital asset treasury (DAT) companies. In total, DAT treasuries wiped out over $25B, caused by the erasure of value from BTC, ETH, and SOL, as well as smaller altcoins. 

Bitmine’s losses are the steepest, as ETH dipped below $2,000 due to expanding selling pressure. Within hours, Bitmine’s loss bloated to $8.1B. There are no treasuries with net gains, though HYPE reserves have the smallest net losses to date.

Large-scale losses also came for Strategy’s treasury, growing to $6.2B. The exact measure of losses is impossible to pin, as the market continues to slide. Most of the major losses come from BTC and ETH treasuries. The unrealized losses for crypto are separate from the losses of DAT stocks, which are also down on average by 9% in the past day. 

The losses kept expanding as BTC dipped under $67,000, ETH lost the $2,000 level, and BNB dipped under $700. SOL also kept sliding to $83. 

In total, 196 companies have announced treasuries, though only 18 are using the Strategy playbook, and only Bitmine has been dedicated to large-scale ETH accumulation. 

Digital asset treasuries stopped accumulating 

The crypto market slide meant only Bitmine and Strategy were left to pick up the slack with regular purchases. Potential ETH buyers stopped adding more tokens to their treasuries in the past 30 days, with the exception of Bitmine.

Not one of Solana’s DAT companies bought more SOL, as the asset kept sliding in the past month. 

So far, only a few BTC-based DAT have sold, mostly originating from legacy miner reserves. Strategy’s Michael Saylor has made another call to hold onto the assets, as the company has survived over 500 days during a bear market. 

Not all treasury companies achieved sustainable stock growth or gained mindshare. Smaller altcoin treasury companies, which relied on in-kind fundraising, did not incur losses from market purchases. Instead, they managed to monetize idle altcoins by selling shares. 

Will DAT companies abandon their goals? 

DAT companies have different sources of crypto assets, including in-kind deposits. For some, the existing treasuries are legacies that can be held through losses. 

Some of the ETH and SOL reserves are staked and keep producing passive income. Some of the treasuries are also used to run validators for additional fees and rewards. 

DAT companies are suffering the most through worsening sentiment and the loss of external funding. Strategy’s MSTR common stock crashed to $110, accelerating its drop based on the BTC correction. BMNR shares fell to a six-month low of $18.21.

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