Ryan Watkins, co-founder of thesis-driven hedge fund Syncracy Capital, is making the case that Digital Asset Treasuries (DATs) — which collectively control more than $128 billion in assets and represent a sizable portion of supply on major blockchains — present both risk and opportunity.
DATs, short for Digital Asset Treasuries, refer to companies allocating part of their balance sheet to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, or even Dogecoin—just as they might hold cash, bonds, or gold. Instead of keeping all reserves in traditional assets, firms diversify into digital assets to hedge against inflation, store value, and signal innovation to investors.
By designating crypto as part of treasury management, companies aim to protect purchasing power while also gaining exposure to the growth of blockchain ecosystems. This trend has accelerated as institutional acceptance of crypto rises, making DATs an increasingly common feature in corporate finance strategies.
According to BitcoinTreasuries.net, public companies collectively hold about 976,772 BTC worth roughly $110 billion. Corporate treasuries are also diversifying into other digital assets, with around $3.2 billion in Solana, approximately $15 billion in Ethereum, and about $155 million in Dogecoin at the time of writing.
Watkins wrote:
“The speed at which they’ve scaled has caused whiplash, with few stopping to think through the deeper implications of Wall Street’s latest gold rush.”
DATs have been faster to scale than at any point in history, rivaling past crypto fundraising crazes, Watkins believes. Furthermore, he notes that most of the conversation has been focused on short-term speculation — how much it can raise, how long premiums will last, and what tokens are next to catch interest.
“Most DATs lack substance beyond their financial engineering and will likely fade away once the music stops,” he wrote in a blog.
Nevertheless, Watkins believes the current frenzy is a necessary bootstrapping phase.
“In the coming quarters, leading DATs will evolve their capital structures, adopt more sophisticated asset management strategies, and build out services that expand beyond treasury management.”
Watkins imagines a few DATs growing into for-profit, publicly traded analogues to crypto foundations — but with wider mandates. Rather than just shepherding ecosystem cash flows, they could plow profits into asset accumulation, product development, and governance maintenance.
Watkins believes only a limited number of DATs will survive in the long run. “Not all DATs will make it to the promised land”, says Watkins.
Instead of just supporting their ecosystems, they would use profits to buy more assets, build new products, and even influence governance decisions.
Some already have more tokens than the foundations behind the blockchains they support. Watkins suggested that these DATs will operate somewhat like a cross between a fund, a bank, and a multinational conglomerate, Berkshire Hathaway, focusing on long-term growth.
“What makes them unique is that their returns are denominated in crypto per share, making them pure plays on underlying projects rather than fee-extracting asset managers.”
However, Watkins has some serious concerns. He observes that the frenzy is causing opportunistic operators to gain access to capital to acquire tokens, hedging the exposure in anticipation of premium selling, which he compares to the ICO mania of 2017 and the Web3 venture frenzy of 2021.
Currently, the majority of DATs are financed through common equity, which insulates them from being forced to sell. However, Watkins believes that once a downturn begins, pressure from shareholders could lead to aggressive financial engineering, including the divestment of core assets.
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This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Sep 24, 2025, where it first appeared in the MARKETS section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
