Bloomberg: Digital Asset Treasury (DAT) Stocks Plunge Median 43% in 2025 – Some Down Over 99%

Public companies that aggressively loaded their corporate treasuries with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies — collectively known as Digital Asset Treasury (DAT) firms — have been among the worst-performing stocks of 2025, with the median U.S. and Canadian-listed DAT stock down 43% year-to-date and several names down more than 99% from their peaks, according to a December 6 Bloomberg analysis.

After riding Bitcoin’s rally to all-time highs earlier in the year, many of these companies now face a brutal reality: crypto holdings generate no cash flow, debt interest piles up, and dividend or share-buyback promises have become unsustainable.

The Biggest Losers

Why the DAT Model Is Cracking

1. No Yield, All Cost Unlike traditional treasury assets (T-bills, corporate bonds), Bitcoin and altcoins pay zero interest or dividends. Meanwhile, many DAT firms funded purchases with high-yield convertible debt (6–12% coupons) that now eats into cash flow.
2. Leverage Backfires Companies that issued convertible notes or preferred shares at premium valuations in early 2025 now trade far below conversion prices, leaving them with expensive debt and no equity upside.
3. Dividend Promises Collapse Several smaller DATs marketed “Bitcoin-backed dividends” to retail investors — promises that became impossible to keep as crypto prices corrected and interest expenses soared.
4. Index and ETF Cannibalization Institutional investors now prefer spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs (total AUM >$180 billion) over single-stock DAT exposure, draining the premium these companies once commanded.

The MicroStrategy Exception (Sort Of)

Even the original and largest DAT — MicroStrategy — is down 38% YTD and more than 50% from its 2025 peak, despite holding over 421,000 BTC worth ~$39 billion. The stock now trades at roughly a 1.8× premium to its Bitcoin NAV, down from 3–4× earlier in the year.

Bottom Line

The great 2024–2025 DAT experiment — turning corporate balance sheets into leveraged Bitcoin plays — has largely failed for everyone except the earliest and most disciplined actors.

For smaller firms that chased the trend with heavy debt and aggressive marketing, 2025 has been an outright wipeout.

Investors have spoken: in the age of regulated, liquid Bitcoin ETFs, single-stock treasury plays are yesterday’s trade.