Digital Asset Treasury Companies Grabbed the Limelight During Crypto's Sunny Season
In the summer of 2025, the crypto industry witnessed a significant milestone with the emergence of Digital Asset Treasury (DAT) companies. These firms, like the rebranded Microstrategy (Nasdaq: MSTR), have made digital assets a core part of their business.
Since September 2025, Microstrategy's stock price has surged 22 times, while bitcoin, the digital asset it accumulates, appreciated nearly 10 times over the same period. This remarkable growth is a testament to the potential of DATs and the crypto market.
The concept of DATs is simple yet innovative. They issue and sell public shares and other securities, using the proceeds to buy their designated crypto assets. This model allows these companies to operate like any other public equity, but with the added benefit of crypto assets.
One of the key advantages of DATs is that they solve the challenge of buying native crypto tokens for some investors. By wrapping crypto assets under a public equity wrapper, they become SEC-regulated securities, subject to public reporting, disclosures, and consumer protections.
However, this model comes with its own set of risks. Selling equity to buy the underlying crypto asset is generally accretive to shareholders when the stock price is greater than the net asset value (NAV) of the crypto asset (mNAV > 1). But, when the mNAV is less than 1, companies become susceptible to takeovers, especially if the underlying assets are worth more than the value of the equity.
The innovation of DATs was what ultimately stole the "crypto summer" spotlight. Under the Biden Administration, few companies dared to replicate the DAT model with other crypto assets due to regulatory concerns. However, the 2024 Presidential election brought a change as President Trump vowed to make the United States "the crypto capital of the planet."
This shift in political climate could pave the way for more DATs to emerge, driving further growth in the crypto market. With sophisticated management teams using both centralized and decentralized finance (DeFi) solutions to drive yields even higher, the future of DATs looks promising.
The SEC, under new Chairman Paul Atkins, has also shown support for crypto innovation. The agency ended the "regulation by enforcement" approach and announced "Project Crypto," an initiative to support crypto innovation. This move is expected to further boost the growth of DATs and the crypto industry as a whole.
In conclusion, the rise of DATs has marked a significant milestone in the crypto industry. As more companies embrace this model and regulatory environments become more favourable, we can expect to see continued growth and innovation in the world of digital assets.
