Digital-Asset Treasury Companies Continue to Accumulate Crypto. But Are Any of Them Worth Buying?

Two big digital-asset treasury (DAT) companies kept buying their target cryptocurrencies in the week of June 14, even as the value of their holdings slid further and further. Strategy (NASDAQ: MSTR) added 520 Bitcoin tokens for $35 million, expanding its hoard to 847,363, and Bitmine Immersion Technologies (NYSE: BMNR) bought 52,203 Ethereum for $92 million.

The pitch from each business is the same as ever: They're happy to accumulate these assets while they're on sale because they're confident that in the long run it will turn out to be a good decision. But that's a very different issue than whether to buy these stocks yourself, so let's get some clarity on that.

The bull market premium is gone

It makes sense to buy digital-asset treasury companies when their stocks trade above the value of the crypto on the balance sheet. That gap, as measured by the market value to net asset value (mNAV), is what makes the entire DAT business model work (when it does).

Above an mNAV of 1.0, a company is effectively selling its own shares to the market at a premium, so it can then buy more coins than the dilution caused by the new share issuance. This creates a virtuous cycle of higher stock prices leading to more purchasing of the asset that drives most of the stock's value, enabling the flywheel to continue.

But below an mNAV of 1.0, the cycle reverses. And that usually spells serious trouble for shareholders.

Image source: Getty Images.

For instance, as a result of the Bitcoin bear market that started in October 2025, Strategy now trades at 0.63 mNAV, and its shares are down by 43% in 2026 so far. Bitmine is in a better position, trading at 0.97 mNAV, but only by carrying no debt, and its shares are down by 51% in the same period. Hyperliquid Strategies (NASDAQ: PURR), the largest corporate holder of Hyperliquid, is the outlier, with an mNAV of 1.86, and its shares have gained roughly 98% over the past year.

What each company is buying

Short-term losses of the scale experienced by Strategy and Bitmine are scary for most investors, but they might be tolerable if the companies' approach pays off down the line.

Bitcoin has a hard cap of 21 million coins. Strategy's hoard is about 4% of all Bitcoins ever, and more purchasing will tighten the liquid float even more, making a tailwind for Bitcoin holders -- but not necessarily for Strategy's shareholders, who will be absorbing the dilution and also the cost of debt service.

In contrast, Ethereum has no hard cap, and its supply is often slightly inflationary, so Bitmine's 4.7% share of its outstanding supply does not produce the same float-tightening effect to the same degree.

Whereas a spot Bitcoin ETF will give investors direct exposure to upside from the scarcity of the underlying asset, treasury companies don't. Investors end up paying for the overhead costs of the business, unlike with an ETF or buying the coin directly, and they're still in for the volatility of the underlying cryptocurrency no matter how they get exposure.

With that said, I hold Hyperliquid Strategies because I wanted to get some exposure to Hyperliquid in my investment accounts, and ETFs holding it are not yet available. But it's still probably better to just buy the underlying asset directly.

There's more risk than upside here

Buying shares of a treasury company bundles every coin with corporate overhead costs, debt service expenses, premium volatility, and dilutive issuance at management's discretion.

It also introduces a dollop of governance risk stemming from the company's management team, which is in addition to the governance risks from the leadership figures of the underlying assets. The fact that the DATs are able to use financing as a form of leveraged purchasing on behalf of their shareholders is what makes them look appealing, but investors have to pay for the privilege, and outsize returns are not guaranteed in any way.

On the other hand, spot crypto ETFs often charge expense fees of just 0.2% to 0.3% annually, so they're very comparable to the costs of holding the coins directly in a crypto wallet. And, at the end of the day, that's why there aren't really any digital-asset treasury shares that are worth owning.

Alex Carchidi has positions in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Hyperliquid Strategies. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Hyperliquid. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.