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Author: 0xEdwardyw, Source: TokenInsight, Compiled by: Shaw Bitchain Vision
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Many Crypto Treasury Companies have stock prices far higher than the actual value of their holdings of crypto assets, indicating that investors may pay an overpriced premium for indirect access to crypto exposure.
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These companies are usually micro-cap stocks with very small circulation, and their stock prices are prone to violent fluctuations and are easily driven by speculative funds.Some companies may take advantage of this to briefly push up stock prices by exaggerating crypto asset purchase plans, putting retail investors at risk of “pulling shipments” (Pump-and-Dump).
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In the short term, this type of strategy does inject funds and liquidity into Altcoin, support the currency price, and bring crypto assets into the traditional open capital market.But if the bubble bursts, if these companies collectively sell their crypto assets, it may impact the market and trigger a large-scale decline.
introduce
The cryptocurrency market has shown an astonishing paradox in the past year.Many altcoins are priced well below their all-time highs, however, a group of listed companies that use these altcoins as reserve assets have witnessed a surge in stock prices.
This article will explore how the stock prices of companies holding altcoins such as Solana, Ethereum and XRP have soared.We will also discuss whether this phenomenon is similar to a bubble and what it means for the broader cryptocurrency market and investors.
The altcoin market is under pressure, but cryptocurrency-related stocks soar
Although mainstream cryptocurrencies have rebounded, altcoins overall still performed worse than expected in 2025.Bitcoin’s dominance has climbed to its highest point in years, while many altcoins are still well below their peak.Even if the total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies exceeds $3 trillion, most altcoins are still priced 80% to 90% below their all-time highs, indicating that the “altcoin season” has performed mediocrely.
Surprisingly, however, the stock prices of some companies that hold or plan to increase their holdings of altcoins have soared, far exceeding their corresponding crypto assets.These public companies have actually turned themselves into cryptocurrency holding tools — a strategy originally pioneered by MicroStrategy companies on Bitcoin — but has now expanded to various altcoins.
Here are a few prominent examples of this phenomenon:
DeFi Development Corp (NASDAQ: DFDV) supports SOL
The company, formerly a real estate financing company called Janover, was acquired by a group of former Kraken executives in April 2025 and has quickly entered the cryptocurrency space.Afterwards, the company changed its name to DeFi Development Corp and adopted the Solana (SOL) reserve strategy to purchase hundreds of thousands of SOL tokens.
Just over a month after announcing Solana-centric financial plans, DeFi Dev’s share price surged more than 1,000%, from less than $40 at its peak.
Investors actually view the stock as a proxy for Solana, pushing its price up wildly despite the overall weak altcoin market.(In contrast, Solana’s own price experienced a decline during this period!)
SharpLink Gaming (NASDAQ: SBET) ETH
Perhaps the most dramatic case is SharpLink, a sports betting and iGaming marketing company, announcing plans to transform into an Ethereum holding company.
Supported by well-known cryptocurrency investors including Joseph Lubin (Ethereum co-founder and CEO of ConsenSys), SharpLink has raised up to $425 million in private placement to buy ETH and enrich its company’s funds.The market responded enthusiastically: SharpLink’s stock price soared from less than $3 to more than $100 in a week after the announcement of this Ethereum-centric strategy.
Although SharpLink’s share price fluctuated significantly later, its share price even plummeted 70% in after-hours trading as investors misunderstood a stock registration document, its share price is still much higher than its pre-adjustment price.As of mid-June 2025, SBET’s stock price has risen nearly 250% so far this year, far exceeding ETH’s sluggish price performance.
XRP for VivoPower International (NASDAQ: VVPR)
VivoPower, a small renewable energy company, decided in May 2025 to adopt XRP as its primary reserve asset.The company announced plans to raise $121 million to acquire XRP and gain support from a Saudi prince in its private funding round.
Unlike Solana and Ethereum, VivoPower’s XRP reserve strategy has caused a milder stock price response—the stock price rose about 28% after the news came out, reaching its highest point in two years.
Nevertheless, this shift in VivoPower makes it one of the first publicly traded companies to bet on XRP as a financial asset, suggesting that even Ripple’s tokens (long-standingly in the regulatory dispute) are now seen by some businesses as potential means of value storage.Company executives describe the move as“Institutions are growing confidence in real-world blockchain applications”, and said they will explore XRP-based DeFi opportunities to achieve business synergy.
Tron Inc. (NASDAQ: SRM)
SRM Entertainment is a small market company based in Florida that designs and sells authorized merchandise related to theme parks, movies and comic culture, such as plush toys, action figures and collectibles sold in gift and specialty stores.
In June 2025, SRM announced its entry into the cryptocurrency sector and launched a $210 million Tron (TRX) fund management strategy.The company raised $100 million through a PIPE transaction structured by convertible preferred shares and warrants and received another $110 million through warrant exercise.The funds are provided in the form of TRX tokens rather than cash, making SRM the first US listed company to hold TRX on such a large scale.
Tron founder Justin Sun joined and served as a strategic consultant.SRM’s stock price soared more than 600% in a few days, soaring from $1.45 to more than $10.The company changed its name to Tron Inc. and plans to pledge its TRX and return the pledged proceeds to shareholders in the form of dividends.The move effectively provides retail investors with equity investment opportunities to participate in the Tron ecosystem, something some analysts call “Tron’s unofficial Nasdaq IPO.”
all in all,The altcoin market is relatively sluggish, but listed companies holding altcoins have experienced excessive stock price increases.Retail investors eager for high growth opportunities appear to be flocking to these crypto-asset stocks, viewing them as another way to capitalize on the potential upside potential of cryptocurrencies.
Bubble concerns and its impact on cryptocurrency markets
The staggering surge in crypto vault strategy firm stocks is exactly the same as the speculative fanatic past.Market analysts and industry veterans are increasingly arguing whether these stocks herald a bubble that is forming.The following red flags indicate bubble-like dynamics:
High valuation and assets
As mentioned above, many such companies trade much higher than the value of the cryptocurrency they hold.For every $1 Solana or Ethereum on the balance sheet, the market capitalization is equivalent to $4 or $8, which means investors expect to create huge value in the future — or just fall into a frenzy.
This distortion of “price-earnings ratio to net asset value” reminds people of the prevailing Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) premium that ended up evolving into a significant discount with tragic consequences.Retail investors in these stocks are actually buying cryptocurrency exposure at high prices, and this practice is unlikely to continue.
Micro stock speculation and stock price gouging risks
These companies are small in size, amplifying the rapid surge in stock prices.Before cryptocurrency bonds made them famous, they were mostly micro-stock or low-priced stock companies.This makes them susceptible to extreme fluctuations and potential manipulation.
Low-volume shares (there are very few stocks available for trading) can trigger explosive price volatility, such as SharpLink’s 2 million outstanding shares driving a 20-fold increase.SharpLink has issued 69 million new shares through PIPE to fund its Ethereum funding strategy.However, these new stocks were almost all restricted initially and required registration with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to trade.
Additionally, some operators may be taking advantage of this hype.Some unknown companies have announced ambitious cryptocurrency acquisition plans that are far beyond their capacity to bear, simply to enjoy the “short-term price increase caused by headlines”.
When a small company without reliable supporters claims to buy $500 million worth of cryptocurrency, it is likely just attracting speculators to buy its stock.Retail investors need to be extra cautious to avoid falling into the trap in this situation.
Leverage and Financial Engineering
There are also concerns that these companies are actually introducing hidden leverage to the crypto ecosystem.
These companies buy cryptocurrencies through debt or equity financing, which is exactly the same as GBTC trading: Investors use leverage to obtain premiums—and when the premium disappears, such transactions end in forced closing.If cryptocurrency prices fall or stock premiums shrink, these companies may face pressure to raise cash and may eventually sell their cryptocurrency reserves at the worst possible time.
Impact on the cryptocurrency market
The rise of altcoin vault company stocks will bring a range of potential outcomes to the wider crypto ecosystem.
In the short term, these companies will indeed bring new capital to the cryptocurrency market.When SharpLink raises $425 million to buy ETH, or Upexi gets $100 million to buy SOL, these funds are converted into buying cryptocurrencies, which could drive up demand and liquidity for related tokens.
These developments also mark the deep integration of cryptocurrencies and traditional financial channels.The open stock market is being used as a tool to gain exposure to cryptocurrencies, highlighting the growing acceptance of digital assets by institutional investors.If it can be done responsibly, cryptocurrency financial strategies can further legitimize cryptocurrencies as corporate financial tools and attract more participants to the ecosystem.
On the other hand, the bursting of the bubble may have a chain reaction that will affect the cryptocurrency market.If many of these companies end up over-expanding and their share prices plummet, they may be forced to liquidate their holdings of cryptocurrencies to pay off their debts.A large-scale and concurrent sell-off of SOL, ETH, XRP or other cryptocurrencies could lead to oversupply in the market, thereby driving down prices.
For retail investors, this event vividly reminds the risk of chasing hype.The key point of the analysis is that a company’s stock may have a huge divergence from fundamentals in the short term.Buying stocks just because of cryptocurrencies is different from the way they hold cryptocurrencies in a diversified way; in fact, it can be more volatile and overpriced.
