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What is a digital asset treasury company?
Last updated 2026-11-07
A digital asset treasury (DAT) company is a listed company whose main business is buying coins such as bitcoin and keeping them in its corporate vault (treasury). Owning its shares means owning the coins indirectly.
How it started
In August 2020 Strategy (then MicroStrategy), a US enterprise-software company, began buying bitcoin with its corporate cash. What started as "cash loses value, so hold bitcoin instead" soon became a strategy of raising money through shares and bonds to keep buying, and the company is now the largest corporate holder of bitcoin in the world.
In 2024 Metaplanet, a Tokyo hotel operator, took the same path and became Japan's flagship example. From 2025 companies accumulating ether, solana, XRP, HYPE and other coins appeared in the US, Canada, Brazil, Korea and elsewhere. This site tracks 53 of them (16 coins, 10 countries).
Where the money comes from
Operating profits alone cannot buy many coins. Treasury companies raise money in three main ways.
- Issuing new shares: when the stock trades above the value of its coins (mNAV above 1×), the company sells new shares and buys coins with the proceeds. The share count rises, but coins rise faster, so coins per share grow.
- Convertible notes: bonds that can later be exchanged for shares. They carry little or no interest, but increase the share count when converted.
- Preferred stock: shares paid before common shareholders in dividends and liquidation. They are treated like a claim to be repaid and included in mNAV.
As a result the stock price of a treasury company moves not only with the coin price but with how much debt it carries and how many more shares are coming. mNAV folds those into one number.
Why the stock trades above or below its coins
Common reasons for a premium: retirement and institutional accounts that cannot hold coins directly can hold shares; the expectation that the company will use its premium to keep growing coins per share; and the leverage of buying coins with borrowed money.
Common reasons for a discount: no plan to sell coins and return cash to shareholders, operating costs, debt that is large relative to the coins, doubts about management, or a trading halt. Metaplanet (3350.T), for example, currently shows a simple mNAV of 0.58× and a debt-inclusive headline mNAV of 0.83×.
How it differs from an ETF
A spot bitcoin ETF simply holds the coins and tracks the price almost 1:1. Treasury stock stacks debt, share issuance and management decisions on top of the coins, so it can rise more or fall more than the coins themselves. Neither is "better"; the point is that buying treasury stock requires a separate judgement — "is this company's mNAV reasonable?" — on top of a view about the coin.
Which companies this site lists
Only companies whose main business is holding coins, whose coin value is at least US$20 million, and whose holdings and share count can be verified in filings (SEC, DART, company IR). Companies with a separate main business such as Tesla, miners, and companies whose holdings are undisclosed or unverifiable are excluded. The rules are at the bottom of the Method page, and each company page carries its own description and sources.
Not investment advice · numbers in this article are live