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Author: Fabian Dori, Source: Coindesk, Compiler: Shaw Bitcoin Vision
A small but growing class of companies no longer holds Bitcoin solely as static reserves.They incorporate it into their capital strategies, using it to raise capital, access credit and generate earnings.These Digital Asset Treasurys (DATs) are the first laboratories to experiment with how decentralized assets can operate as productive capital within corporate financial structures.
This phenomenon started with Strategy but has since grown.Japan’s Metaplanet, France’s Blockchain Group and Europe’s Twenty One Capital are prime examples of companies that have each developed new models to position Bitcoin as an effective financial instrument rather than just an investment.Their experiments are accelerating a larger process: the financialization of Bitcoin and possibly other tokens.
From assets to balance sheet infrastructure
Historically, Bitcoin has served as an alternative store of value and an uncorrelated hedge against currency debasement.DAT is expanding this model.By leveraging Bitcoin for liquidity in loans, convertible bonds, or fund structures, they view Bitcoin as programmable collateral and a productive asset.This shift from ownership to usage marks Bitcoin’s formal entry into mainstream corporate financing.
Convertible bond issuance has become a common feature of this strategy.Zero-coupon bonds and equity-linked notes enable companies to raise capital while maintaining upside exposure from Bitcoin’s appreciation.Investors receive asymmetric yield potential, while issuers optimize their cost of capital.This is a reversal of conventional wisdom.The traditional view is that volatility is purely a risk factor; in this new model, upside volatility becomes part of the value proposition.
Measuring resilience by mNAV
To evaluate these new financial models, investors have come to rely on a metric called market net asset value (mNAV), which measures how efficiently a company converts digital assets into real productive capital.
The key to understanding the sustainability of these strategies lies in the mNAV fold.It connects traditional valuation logic to cryptocurrency market dynamics.
DAT’s mNAV is directly related to the price of the underlying asset, which explains much of the short-term fluctuations in these companies’ stock valuations.However, what matters most is not the absolute level of mNAV, but the multiple that investors are willing to put on it.The multiple reflects investor confidence in a company’s ability to generate “alpha” earnings that exceed Bitcoin’s benchmark performance through disciplined capital allocation, balance sheet management, and incremental earnings.
When mNAV multiples narrow, it signals that the market favors risk management over speculation.When a particular company’s multiples decline, it highlights its unique risks.Recent data suggests both patterns exist simultaneously.DAT companies that actively issue debt or engage in frequent equity dilutions have seen their mNAV multiples fall below 1x, suggesting investor skepticism about the sustainability of their strategies.Conversely, companies that maintained liquidity buffers and diversified funding structures were able to maintain their premiums despite reducing them, demonstrating the market’s emphasis on prudence and operating discipline even in a high-beta environment.
In this sense, mNAV serves as the new price-to-book ratio for digital asset financing, an institutional measure that distinguishes financial management from speculation.
New disciplines spawned by new assets
The integration of Bitcoin into corporate financial management also brings new constraints.Today, DAT’s share price moves almost in lockstep with Bitcoin, exacerbating market volatility.The link is inevitable, but what separates vulnerability from robustness is structure: how companies manage their debt, equity issuance and liquidity in response to cryptocurrency exposure.
Well-managed DATs are taking a page from traditional finance and stress-testing leverage, setting hedging limits, implementing forward-looking cash flow and liquidity management programs, and establishing risk committees to manage their cryptocurrency positions with the same rigor as FX, commodities, and other traditional assets.This is how Bitcoin transitioned from a speculative asset to a regulated component of financial infrastructure.
Similarities at the Institutional Level
This rebalancing phenomenon is not only visible at the corporate level, but also in the cryptocurrency space.Different cryptocurrency foundations manage asset portfolios that combine native tokens with traditional assets such as cash, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and fixed income.Their goal is not to reduce exposure to digital assets but to stabilize that exposure, a logic that is entirely consistent with multi-asset portfolio theory.
In traditional finance, asset managers diversify across currencies, commodities and credit to optimize liquidity and duration.Today, DAT is replicating this logic on the chain, integrating native assets and legal currency assets to achieve the same purpose.The difference is that Bitcoin is no longer a fringe player in this process—it’s at its core.
From business to sovereign state
These dynamics are no longer limited to the private sector.The U.S. government announced the establishment of a strategic Bitcoin reserve, with states such as New Hampshire and Texas following suit, and Luxembourg’s sovereign wealth fund investing 1% of its assets in Bitcoin. These moves demonstrate that businesses are taking the lead in adopting Bitcoin, from a store of value to programmable collateral and ultimately a productive asset. This trend may also expand in the field of public finance.
When national or institutional treasuries begin holding Bitcoin as part of long-term reserves, the asset transforms from speculative wealth into usable financial infrastructure.At this point, the discussion is no longer about adoption, but integration: how to manage, lend and stake Bitcoin within a regulated framework.
way forward
Bitcoin will continue to be volatile.This is its essence.But volatility doesn’t hinder its usefulness; it just requires more complex and specialized mechanisms.A growing number of funds, loans, derivatives markets and structured products are being built around Bitcoin, each adding depth to this maturing market.
DAT is where this new system is first stress-tested.Their success is not determined by how many Bitcoins they accumulate, but by how effectively they convert volatility into capital efficiency and use transparency, balanced reserves, and disciplined money management to build trust.
In this sense, DAT can be regarded as a testing ground for Bitcoin to move towards institutional applications.Their evolution will tell us how Bitcoin, the world’s first digital asset, can become not just a store of value but a practical component of the modern financial system.
