The collapse of the crypto treasury market is pushing struggling public companies toward a new source of investor interest: artificial intelligence.
According to a new report by Bloomberg, at least a dozen digital asset management (DAT) companies have pivoted to AI-related projects in recent months amid falling token prices and declining market valuations. The initial results have been disappointing.
Shares of K Wave Media, which previously specialized in accumulating Bitcoin, have fallen 71% since pivoting to data center development in May. Lixte Biotechnology shares are down 33% since entering a merger agreement with a battery manufacturer in June. Alphaton Capital, which previously held altcoins, has lost 33% since rebranding as Alpha Compute in April. Industry observers believe most digital asset management companies are either switching to AI or slowly fading away.
Disappearance of Crypto Treasury Premiums
Digital asset management companies raised capital and issued stock to buy cryptocurrencies, hoping their shares would trade at a premium to the value of those assets.
This model thrived as token prices rose. It began to crumble when the value of many companies fell below the net value of their cryptocurrency reserves.
Shares of U.S. and Canadian treasury companies tracked by Bloomberg have seen a median decline of 43% this year. While Bitcoin is down 49% from its October peak, and Ether is down 62% from its August 2025 record, companies are instead exploring opportunities in data centers, the space business, and small nuclear reactors.
Even Strategy, which popularized this model under the leadership of Michael Saylor, has suffered. Its shares are down 81% from their 2024 peak, and the company has reduced its Bitcoin holdings.
Miners Have a More Reliable Path into AI
The rush towards AI mirrors previous corporate attempts to latch onto popular trends—from domain names in the 1990s to pivoting to blockchain in subsequent decades.
Nevertheless, Bitcoin miners may have a more reliable path. Their power contracts, land, and data centers can often be adapted for high-performance computing.
Coreweave started as a miner and later became a cloud computing provider. Its market capitalization is now around $40 billion, and its stock is up 80% since its initial public offering in March 2025.
Companies Hut 8, Iren, and Terawulf have also attracted investors after repurposing their capacity for artificial intelligence tasks. For financial companies lacking comparable infrastructure, a new name alone may not be enough.
"I think the era of DATs, as we knew them, is probably over," said Daniel Forman, a partner at Lowenstein Sandler.
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