The Rise of DAT: From Holding Bitcoin to Yield Management

Author: Sankalp Shangari, Translated by: Shaw Golden Finance

Summary

As a financial institution for "enthusiasts" on the blockchain, what are these companies evolving into?

• Not only vault reserves, but also programmable capital structure;
• Not just a balance sheet, but a liquidity engine;
• Not only are they holders of cryptocurrencies, but also builders of the native crypto financial ecosystem.

In the 2020s, corporate finance departments will no longer resemble traditional CFO offices, but rather will look like a real-time operation, driven by blockchain, equipped with APIs, vaults, and validators of a hedge fund.

They will handle cross-border payments using stablecoins. Funds will be invested in the ecosystem they assist in governing. Issuing tokens, establishing special purpose vehicles (SPVs), and conducting macro hedging—all these are done on-chain.

Yesterday's DAT held Bitcoin. Today's DAT is operating the flywheel. Tomorrow's DAT will control the programmable capital machine.

They will issue stocks to purchase ETH. They will engage in yield farming with a nine-digit balance sheet. They will stake governance tokens to shape the ecosystem, and they will do this while also providing quarterly reports to Wall Street. They will blur the lines between treasury, venture capital funds, and protocol operators until only the self-printed yield curve remains.

Welcome to the new era of capital formation nurtured by cryptocurrency, presented in the form of equity, and jointly managed by spreadsheets and smart contracts.

In this summer of corporate showmanship, spreadsheets have gathered dust while balance sheets have embraced digital transformation. Public companies from around the world are casting aside bland capital plans in favor of bold bets on cryptocurrency, a scene that is nothing short of operatic.

Forget about the hype of R&D or flashy product launches. The heavyweight event this season is not new gadgets or services—but financing, with the proceeds going directly into cryptocurrency wallets, allowing the market to take its course. From French chip manufacturers to Texas electric bike startups, the lineup of participants is incredibly diverse. This is your front-row ticket to experiencing the corporate cryptocurrency frenzy.

Stage One - Era of Accumulation

"A fallen cowboy once roamed the wilderness of DeFi; now, the suited Wall Street types have entered the same domain."

• What happened:

• Since June, nearly 100 listed companies have initiated token purchase activities, raising over $43 billion, which is twice the total amount of funds raised from all initial public offerings (IPOs) in the United States in 2025.
• MicroStrategy ranks first with 607,770 bitcoins (approximately $43 billion) held on its balance sheet; Trump Media has invested $2 billion in bitcoin and its derivatives.
• Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) have evolved into 'cryptocurrency vaults' (such as ReserveOne, Bitcoin Standard), providing retail investors with cutting-edge investment opportunities.

• Why it matters:

• This is not just fund management, but a performance art expressed through stock codes.
• Initially just a fringe experiment (such as the 'DeFi Summer' of 2021), it has now transformed into mainstream finance dressed in a tailcoat.

This chart vividly demonstrates the institutional shift occurring in the Bitcoin market, which is the core argument of DAT's summer report. Currently, over 11.17% of Bitcoin's market capitalization is held by institutions, with exchange-traded funds (ETFs) accounting for 6.52% and corporate treasuries for 4.64%. Starting from the first stage of a few bold companies making sporadic accumulations, this trend has evolved into a fully operational flywheel, especially after 2023, with the surge of ETF inflows and the rise in Bitcoin prices making this trend increasingly evident. This shift reflects the 'activation' of the second stage, where structured funds raised by Wall Street through ETFs and financing are driving the development of liquidity, momentum, and narrative. The significant increase in ETF and corporate treasury holdings is not merely financial activity; it signifies the institutionalization of Bitcoin as a balance sheet asset and capital market tool. In short, this chart is the clearest evidence so far: Bitcoin has become a corporate asset class.

Phase Two - Obtain Project Earnings from Dormant Reserves

"Buying Bitcoin is the first phase. The real show begins when you make it work." — Steve Kurz, Galaxy Digital

• Earnings Generation Strategy:

• Staking and DeFi Liquidity: Various companies are putting ETH and other tokens into DeFi protocols.
• Structured Products and Options: Capital market professionals are conducting layered options coverage and basis trading on cryptocurrency positions.
• Governance Manual: Voting and staking governance tokens in decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) to influence the protocol roadmap.
• On-chain Ecosystem: Create products that integrate enterprise fund management into real application scenarios.

• New Flywheel：

• Public companies purchase tokens.
• Token price has risen.
• Due to the increase in net asset value, the stock price soared.
• Issuing new shares or convertible bonds.
• Earnings are redistributed into more tokens.
• Continuously repeat this process.

• Why Different:

• This is a combination of traditional capital markets and cryptocurrency innovation, which is subject to comprehensive regulation and has strong liquidity.
• Galaxy Digital and other companies have helped raise $4 billion for cryptocurrency acquisitions, including custody, risk management, and yield infrastructure.

Publicly traded companies currently hold nearly 900,000 Bitcoins, with a 35% increase in just one quarter.

A sense of déjà vu of doubt, distrust, and subversion

Some of the smartest people in the room are rolling their eyes:

• "This is a bubble."
• "Ethereum (ETH) has no real demand - why choose SBET?"
• "If the flywheel stops turning, these crypto vault companies will be finished."

Makes sense. But remember: prices change opinions, and time will prove everything.

The same situation also occurs with DeFi tokens, NFTs, and even Bitcoin itself. If irrational enthusiasm creates real infrastructure, then it will not disappear – it will continue to evolve.

Stage Three - Quality Traps and Quality Rewards

"Not everyone can get the same premium. Act early, do not repeat." — Galaxy Digital

• Quality Phenomenon:

1. Companies with a large amount of cryptocurrency reserve assets have an average trading price that is 73% higher than their on-chain assets.
2. However, saturation risk will reduce profits - if you are the tenth to enter the market, the market will be indifferent.

• Regulatory and Market Changes:

1. GENIUS & CLARITY Act: Stimulates competition among stablecoins; affects Circle's valuation before the Q2 earnings report on August 12.
2. Ethereum as a Corporate Strategy: SharpLink Gaming's reserve of 360,807 ETH has increased by 110% this month, indicating a new on-chain treasury model.

• While Circle is declining, Galaxy is rising

1. Analysts refer to it as an "integrated provider" for institutions, surpassing single-service companies like FalconX and NYDIG.
2. The GENIUS Act and the CLARITY Act assist Galaxy in its stablecoin custody, issuance, and artificial intelligence data center operations.
3. Currently, more than two-thirds of Galaxy's value comes from its infrastructure, such as the Helios facility (formerly Argo Blockchain), which currently hosts CoreWeave's artificial intelligence and high-performance computing business.
4. DAT meets computation, this is a vertically integrated architecture.

A key driving factor behind this corporate cryptocurrency flywheel is the concept of mNAV, or market-based net asset value, which measures the real-time value of the cryptocurrencies held by a company relative to its market capitalization. When a publicly traded company accumulates a large amount of cryptocurrency assets and the price of those assets rises, its mNAV increases significantly. The difference between the actual token value and the stock value becomes a tradable narrative. The market begins to price not only from an operational perspective but also from the potential future appreciation of tokens, often at a premium. This leads to a surge in stock valuations, enabling the company to issue more shares or convertible bonds under favorable conditions, and then reinvest that capital to purchase more cryptocurrencies. This creates a self-reinforcing cycle: cryptocurrency reserves → higher mNAV → higher stock price → more capital → greater reserves. In this cycle, mNAV is not only a valuation tool but also the fuel driving the next phase of growth.

• Survival Manual:

1. Have a strategy: Don't just buy tokens—tailor financial products.
2. Stay Flexible: Adjust incentive measures in response to changes in regulatory requirements and earnings season.
3. Build Infrastructure: Go beyond hoarding; launch APIs, vaults, and validators.

Is DAT Summer Still a Corporate Casino?

At first, it was just a trickle - a few daring companies were testing the waters in the cryptocurrency space. Today, it has evolved into a surging tide, filled with various document filings, financial disclosures, and capital flows. Welcome to "DAT Summer," where public companies are not only hoarding digital gold but are also wielding it as a weapon.

• Yesterday's DAT held Bitcoin.
• Today's DAT runs the self-reinforcing flywheel.
• Tomorrow's DAT will be a programmable capital machine: issuing stocks to purchase ETH, yield farming through a nine-digit balance sheet, and shaping the ecosystem through governance.

We have entered an era where the question is no longer whether companies will hold cryptocurrencies, but rather how much they will hold, which areas they will venture into, and what new tricks they will come up with next. Whether this will evolve into a new financial framework or simply be the most extravagant corporate roulette game in history remains to be seen. But one thing is certain: the doors of the casino are wide open, and the chips are digital.

This is either a brand new financial architecture built on digital gold or the most extravagant corporate roulette in history. Either way, Wall Street this summer feels less like a strategic meeting and more like a casino filled with laser eyes and "FOMO" market sentiment.

Welcome to DAT Summer, where listed companies not only purchase digital assets but also weaponize them.