Since the beginning of the year, the market capitalization of companies in the US and Canada whose business model is based on accumulating cryptocurrency (DAT, digital asset treasury companies) has declined by 43%. Shares of Strategy, the largest public corporate holder of Bitcoin, have fallen by more than 20% over these months and have lost over 70% from their peak values in the summer of 2025.
As a result, DATs have become a toxic asset for investors, writes Bloomberg. At the same time, there are about 150 DATs in the market, the vast majority of which bet on Bitcoin. All of them, to one degree or another, copied Strategy's model—after its stock soared 3000% in 2024 compared to the end of 2019.
The long-term trend reversed in the fall of 2025 when cryptocurrency prices peaked and began to decline. Bitcoin lost more than a third of its value, and Ethereum halved. The model, which previously worked on the upside, started working in the opposite direction: the decline in the value of digital assets reduced the collateral base for borrowed funds, forcing companies to repay loans. To do this, they had to sell cryptocurrency, which further pressured prices and strengthened the downward trend, Bloomberg notes.
In an effort to maintain investor interest, at least ten DATs announced a change in their business model and attempted to earn money from artificial intelligence. However, Wave Media, which shifted its focus from buying Bitcoin to building data centers, lost nearly 87% of its value. Lixte Biotechnology, which previously invested in cryptocurrencies, fell 40% after merging with a battery development company. AlphaTON Capital, which specialized in altcoins, halved in value after announcing its entry into the cloud computing market.
The only group of players that managed to successfully restructure were crypto miners—their advantage lay in having ready-made computing infrastructure. For example, CoreWeave, which started its transformation earlier than others, has more than doubled in value since its IPO in 2025. Miners Hut 8, Iren, and TeraWulf also received increased investor attention.
At the same time, many companies, including miners and data center owners, have begun selling off their crypto holdings. Recently, Hyperscale Data, which manages AI data centers and trades on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker GPUS, announced the sale of 685 bitcoins for $43 million.
Strategy recently sold 1,690 BTC for $108.6 million. The company intends to use the proceeds to buy back its own preferred STRC shares. In July, Quantum Solutions, Japan's largest Ethereum holder, disposed of 1,000 ETH for $1.9 million to develop its artificial intelligence business.
