jakiro
Every era will create new nouns to place things that the old framework cannot explain.Twenty years ago, what everyone talked about was “Internet companies” and “unicorns” ten years ago. In recent years, a new word that emerged in the capital market wasDAT.
DAT, full nameDigital Asset Treasury Company, literally means “digital asset reserve company”.They are different from traditional Internet or energy companies, not because of the novel business form, but because theyDigital currencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum are regarded as treasury assets and put into the balance sheet..
There is a macro background behind this.After 2020, the world experienced the repeated impact of inflation and interest rate hikes. Corporate financial executives suddenly realized that the cash on the account was being swallowed up quietly, and although US dollar deposits and short-term debts were safe, they could not withstand the long-term erosion of currency depreciation.So, some companies began to look for new “reserves”.Gold is too traditional, real estate is too heavy, Bitcoin is like a light alien-It is scarce, it is transferable, it has no sovereignty.So, the story of DAT unfolds.
DAT company model and typical enterprise
Based on the current market situation, DAT companies can be roughly divided into three mainstream forms.The difference is not how many bitcoins they hold, butThe relationship between holding coins and main business, and how these two curves together shape the risk exposure of the company.
1. Crypto Asset Treasury Type
-
Representative company: Strategy Inc (formerly MicroStrategy, Nasdaq MSTR)
Strategy’s positioning has completely deviated from the traditional software company path, and the label given by the market is almost equivalent to “enterprise-grade Bitcoin ETF”.As of September 21, 2025, the company has held a total of639,835 BTC, average overall purchase price $73,971/BTC.Its stock price elasticity is far higher than that of Bitcoin spot and is a pure “amplifier”.
Investment points:Such companies are highly valued on Bitcoin cycles.Their disclosure frequency is high and transparent, and investors are very clear when buying it – they are not buying the main business, but a compliant, auditable Bitcoin leverage exposure.
Risk points:Financing rhythm and dilution management.If the market environment deteriorates and the average price of new financing buying coins deviates too much, it may cause structural discounts in the valuation system.
2. Mixed type: Main business support + Strategic coin holding
-
Representative company: Boya Interactive (Hong Kong Stocks 0434)
Boya Interactive is a chess and card game company with relatively stable cash flow.Starting from 2023, the company will gradually introduce Bitcoin assets in its financial reports.As of September 18, 2025, total holdings4,091 BTC, total investment$279 million, average price $68,114/BTC.In mid-September, it added within three days411 BTC, the average price is as high as$115,420/BTC,in90% of the allotment funds are used directly to purchase coins.
Investment points:The key to a hybrid company is “proportional management”.The main business provides a cash flow time window, and holding coins brings asset elasticity. The combination of the two forms a dual valuation track.
Risk points:The high entry of new positions may amplify the fluctuations in the report in the short term.If the proportion of currency holding continues to rise, the company’s overall valuation logic will gradually shift to the “coin standard”.
3. Encrypted native service-driven
-
Representative company: Coinbase (Nasdaq COIN)
Coinbase’s core values are anchored in platform businesses: transaction fees, custody, subscriptions and spreads.In the second quarter of 2025, the company held books11,776 BTC and 136,782 ETH, fair value approximate$1.84 billion.But the market does not regard it as a currency holding company, but as a global compliance portal.
Investment points:The valuation logic of business-driven DAT is closest to traditional fintech companies. Coin price fluctuations affect transaction volume, but non-transaction revenue (subscribe, custody) provides anti-cyclical support.
Risk points:Supervision and rate pressure.Compliance attributes are a double-edged sword. On the one hand, they bring moats, and on the other hand, they expose profitability to the direct impact of policy adjustments.
-
Representative company: Riot Platforms (NASDAQ RIOT)
Riot does not rely on buying coins, but on computing power and electricity to “produce” Bitcoin.In August 2025, the company outputs477 BTC, hold at the end of the period19,309 BTC (of which 3,300 are restricted), and disclosed that the “full inclusion cost” of electricity that month2.6 cents/kWh.
Investment points:The profitability of a mining company is equivalent to a three-element equation: Bitcoin price × Network difficulty × Electricity price.In a bull market, their operating leverage is extremely strong; in a bear market, the cash flow pressure and the rigidity of capital expenditure will be amplified at the same time.
Risk points:The double kill effect of cyclical fluctuations.It has to bear the price pullback of Bitcoin and face the upward trend in electricity costs. Its ability to resist risks depends on the lock price of the power contract and inventory management.
In summary,The treasury type is pure beta, the hybrid type is balance, the business-driven type is platform moat, and the mining companies are periodic bets.When investor researching DAT, the key is not to simply look at the “how much is the one holding”, but to price based on the resilience of the main business, the security pad of the average price of the coin, and the transparency of governance and disclosure.
Controversy in the investment market
The emergence of the DAT model has not won unanimous applause from the traditional capital market.Instead, it is always accompanied by doubts and disagreements among institutional investors, researchers and accountants.The core issues focus on several dimensions:
First, there are concerns about “shell companies”.The main business of some DAT companies has been severely weakened, and revenue and profits have almost no longer had a substantial impact on valuation. The market’s understanding of them has gradually been simplified to “buy it is buying Bitcoin.”In this case, whether the company still has the independent value of the operating entity, or is it just a “legal shell” used to provide Bitcoin transaction substitutes is a question in the minds of many investors.
Secondly, it is the volatility issue.Bitcoin’s annualized volatility remains at 60%-80% all year round, far higher than gold and mainstream commodities.When a company allocates a large amount of assets to Bitcoin, its financial statements are almost inevitably affected by the currency price.For pensions and sovereign funds that pursue stability, such fluctuations are difficult to incorporate into the traditional combination model, and directly limits the weight of such companies in institutional investment portfolios.
Third, it is the confusion of valuation logic.DAT companies also have two valuation curves: discounted cash flow of their main business and fluctuations in the market value of digital assets.The problem is that the two often do not fluctuate in one cycle, and may even diverge completely.The market is prone to mismatch when pricing: when the currency price rises, the main business valuation is ignored; when the currency price falls, the asset reserve value is discounted by the market.Such a dual-track valuation system makes it difficult for investors to find a stable anchor point.
Fourth, it is a question of management’s motivation.Large-scale purchase of Bitcoin can be interpreted as strategic asset allocation or as a tool for telling stories and promoting stock prices.If the disclosure is not transparent, investors will suspect that this is “arbitrage” rather than the company’s long-term financial planning.This uncertainty can easily amplify the market sentiment.
Finally, there is the uncertainty of supervision and accounting treatment.The accounting standards adopted by different markets vary. Some require pricing based on the cost method, while others require fair value changes to be recorded.This not only makes the financial reports of cross-market companies lack comparability, but also directly increases the risk of valuation discounts.Before the regulatory framework is unified, DAT companies naturally have to bear higher valuation uncertainty.
Overall, the controversy brought about by the DAT model essentially points to a core issue:Is it corporate attributes or is it just a packaged asset tool?This is also why the market has such huge differences in valuation of similar companies.
Therefore, the next key is how to judge:What kind of DAT company is truly healthy and able to travel through cycles?What are the false propositions that just rely on conceptual arbitrage?——This is the logical starting point for us to establish a “good DAT company” judgment standard.
How to evaluate a DAT company?
According to my current understanding,A good DAT company should have at least four characteristics:
1. Main business is stable:There must be independent cash flow that can provide buffering when the cycle is down.
2. Crypto assets are reserves, not all:The holdings should have proportional boundaries to avoid the company’s overall valuation and currency price being completely bounded.
3. Disclosure transparency:The number of positions, buying costs, and risk control must be clear at a glance, otherwise it will be easily labeled as “storytelling” by the market.
4. Strong anti-cycle ability:It can maintain operations in a bear market and avoid passive selling; in a bull market, holding coins can truly play a role in amplifying valuation.
Above these four standards, there is another dimension that is often overlooked but extremely critical in investment research-Price factors.The comprehensive average price of a company buying Bitcoin directly determines its exposure in future financial reports.The lower the average price, the thicker the safety cushion; the higher the average price, the greater the sensitivity of financial reports to short-term fluctuations.For example, the average price of 411 new BTC added by Boya Interactive in September 2025 is as high as$115,420, significantly higher than its historical average price of $68,114, which means that it may withstand large fluctuations in future financial reports.
According to this dimension, let’s compare several typical DAT companies horizontally.(Latest data as of September 2025):
Summarize
DAT is not a fixed template, but more like a spectrum.On the extreme side, Strategy has almost completely abandoned its software business and chose to shape itself into an “enterprise-level Bitcoin treasury”; on the other side, Coinbase’s value anchor is still the transaction, custody and compliance ecosystem, and holding coins is just a financial note.Between the two, Riot provides a typical high-beta mining company sample, with profits and risks amplified at the same time; while Boya Interactive is one of the few mixed cases in Hong Kong stocks. On the one hand, it maintains the cash flow of chess and card games, and on the other hand, it enters Bitcoin through allotment funds, trying to build a dual-track logic of “business + reserves”.
The core of the future screening of DAT in the capital market will not fall on the surface of “how much money is held”, but on whether the company truly has a sustainable operating chassis and transparent financial governance.Companies whose main businesses have become hollowed out and who only rely on currency prices to tell stories may be able to gain short-term popularity in a bull market, but often lack the ability to survive when the cycle is down.On the contrary, companies that can rely on their main business support and use crypto assets as long-term strategic reserves can form a stable valuation anchor in the fluctuations.
From a more macro perspective, the emergence of DAT is essentially an intermediate link in the institutionalization of crypto assets.They have moved assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum into financial reports, making the capital market gradually accustomed to seeing digital assets as part of corporate reserves.This dual logic of “business + currency holding” is not only the core consideration for whether DAT companies can be accepted by investors, but also will determine which companies can truly travel through the cycle and which ones can only be short-lived in the pan in the next few years.
