Public companies are moving away from holding Bitcoin passively

Public companies are no longer sitting on their Bitcoin and waiting. They’re putting it to work. More than 160 listed firms have now stacked up over 300,000 Bitcoin.

But instead of just holding, they’re chasing yield. They’re lending, staking, writing options, and even buying NFTs to squeeze every bit of value out of their crypto. The traditional “HODL” strategy that once defined Bitcoin’s corporate era is unraveling under shareholder pressure.

According to an investigative report from Bloomberg, the industry is changing course fast, and no one’s pretending otherwise.

Firms that once treated Bitcoin as a symbol of rebellion against Wall Street are now borrowing its tactics. Executives aren’t pushing back. They’re joining in.

Earning passive returns is the new game, and for a growing number of companies, holding without returns is no longer an option. Many of them are still figuring out how to manage risk, but that hasn’t stopped the flood of interest.

Companies use lending, options, and NFTs to earn returns

DDC Enterprise, a struggling Asian food firm, saw its stock halted earlier this year on the New York Stock Exchange after losses piled up. In response, the company pulled off a reverse stock split, loaded up on Bitcoin, rebranded itself as a crypto treasury, and said it would partner with QCP Capital to generate income. The stock jumped over 800% after the announcement. QCP founder Darius Sit said their goal was simple: bring the same kind of risk-managed yield strategies from traditional finance into crypto.

At Pantera Capital, Cosmo Jiang said most treasury-holding companies are now at least looking into yield. Some are already earning from Ethereum and Solana staking. Others are exploring crypto lending and decentralized finance. SharpLink Gaming, one of the bigger Ethereum holders, is still building a risk plan. The firm’s vice president of operations, John Chard, said they’re being deliberate. “These things are best done in a measured way rather than being rushed,” he said.

Other companies are trying more aggressive approaches. Bitcoin Standard Treasury Company, also known as BSTR, is considering writing put options to buy more Bitcoin at a discount. GameSquare Holdings, which holds Ether, recently bought a $5 million CryptoPunk NFT, not to sit on it, but to license it.

Executives at the firm said they’re aiming for returns between 6% and 10% by turning even NFTs into yield-producing assets. Twenty One Capital is debating whether to lend U.S. dollars against Bitcoin collateral.

Risk management becomes key as yield strategies expand

With Bitcoin offering no built-in yield, companies are forced to extract income by lending coins, posting them as collateral, or selling off future gains through options.

Ether Machine chairman Andrew Keys said his firm has a risk management team dedicated to keeping things under control. Still, others are skeptical. Chris Rhine at Galaxy Digital said, “Companies say they can generate 5% yield, and ‘we’ll generate 10% yield’, and immediately alarm bells are going off.” He said investors need to pay close attention to the activities behind those numbers.

The crypto market still remembers what happened in 2022. Firms like Terra, Celsius, BlockFi, and FTX collapsed chasing high returns with risky strategies and unstable collateral. Today’s companies may look different, but they’re still exposed. The old anti-bank ideals of early Bitcoin believers are now colliding with quarterly earnings reports and executive pressure.

That’s not how Michael Saylor built his Bitcoin play. The Strategy CEO famously took on debt and sold equity to accumulate Bitcoin for the long haul.

Morten Christensen, founder of AirdropAlert.com, said firms moving into riskier yield strategies are abandoning Saylor’s long-game model. “He is playing the long game, betting on digital scarcity,” he said. “Wrapping Bitcoin in riskier financial engineering undermines the core value.”

Still, Strategy hasn’t completely ruled out a pivot. A company spokesperson said they haven’t generated income yet from Bitcoin, but confirmed through SEC filings that their stance may change in the future.

Some of the earliest Bitcoin miners have already made the shift. MARA Holdings is using options to boost income. CleanSpark is testing more advanced strategies to turn price volatility into steady returns. CFO Gary Vecchiarelli said, “Soon, we’re going to get into more exotic types of derivatives. We intend to make money on the volatility.”

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