Digital Asset Treasury Companies: The Shift to Active Balance Sheet Management

This article is an excerpt from our 2026 Digital Asset Outlook. Access the full report here →

During the first half of 2025, the market saw a sharp increase in the share of BTC and ETH held by public companies, as more digital asset treasury vehicles came to market and existing players raised capital. Chart 1 shows that the proportion of circulating supply held by these vehicles rose meaningfully over this period, supported by both rising prices and new issuance.

DATs offered a scalable vehicle to deploy convertible arbitrage strategies, generating additional returns, supported by elevated intrinsic volatility. During the Q4 2025 market sell-off, returns compressed, and a significant number of DATs traded at or below their underlying net asset value, highlighting the sensitivity of these vehicles to market sentiment.

As digital asset treasury vehicles scale, their balance sheet strategies are beginning to shift. Rather than relying predominantly on at the market equity issuance, leading DATs are increasingly positioned to incorporate a broader set of financing tools, including convertible instruments, preferred capital, and hybrid structures.

These formats better match institutional capital preferences and allow treasuries to continue accumulating assets across market conditions without relying exclusively on equity dilution. Over time, this evolution is likely to pull the largest vehicles toward MicroStrategy-like operating model, characterized by higher institutional ownership and tighter integration with hedge funds and other sophisticated allocators (Chart 2).

Chart 1. Share of assets held by DATs

Early examples are already visible. Bitmine, for instance, has accessed convertible and preferred capital markets, leveraging the scale of its ETH holdings to attract institutional participation. For ETH focused treasuries, the ability to layer staking income onto the balance sheet further improves funding flexibility by supporting interest servicing and capital amortization.

Chart 2. BNMR & MSTR investors share by sector

The rapid expansion of the DAT universe also introduces meaningful dispersion risk, in our view. The number of treasury vehicles increased sharply through 2025, a rate of growth that is unlikely to persist. Smaller DATs typically operate with higher funding costs and less efficient capital structures, leaving them more vulnerable during periods of adverse price action.

In prolonged drawdowns, these vehicles may trade persistently below net asset value or face pressure to liquidate holdings, increasing the likelihood of consolidation. We have seen it in Q4 2025 during larger market sell off. While such outcomes could create pockets of volatility and undermine confidence if they occur in clusters, they would also reinforce scale advantages, allowing stronger treasuries to absorb assets and market share under more favorable terms.

Taken together, the outlook for digital asset treasury companies in 2026 remains constructive but increasingly differentiated. In our view, the next phase for DATs is a gradual transition from passive-holding vehicles toward active balance‑sheet managers. Leading vehicles are likely to use BTC and ETH as collateral to access financing, participate in conservative DeFi lending markets, and support hedging strategies. This can enhance returns and improve balance‑sheet flexibility, but also increases operational and counterparty risk that investors will need to monitor carefully.

Aggregate holdings are likely to continue rising, supported by structured financing adoption and deeper institutional engagement. At the same time, sustainability will hinge on balance sheet discipline, access to long term capital, and the ability to operate through full market cycles. As the sector matures, performance and survivability are likely to diverge, with scale, funding sophistication, and capital structure emerging as the key determinants of long-term relevance.

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