The MicroStrategy playbook sounded elegant in theory: issue equity, buy Bitcoin, watch the stock price ride BTC’s momentum. Now dozens of public companies have copied the strategy, pouring an estimated $42.7 billion into crypto assets in 2025 alone.
By March 2026, roughly 40% of publicly traded Bitcoin treasury firms were trading below their net asset value. In English: investors could buy shares of these companies and get less Bitcoin exposure than if they’d just bought Bitcoin directly.
The equity financing treadmill
These firms raise cash through at-the-market (ATM) offerings and hybrid equity instruments, then use the proceeds to buy Bitcoin. When the stock trades at a premium to the underlying BTC holdings, everyone wins. New shares get issued at inflated prices, the company buys more Bitcoin per share than it dilutes, and the “BTC yield” metric goes up.
The trouble starts when that premium evaporates. Once shares trade at or below NAV, every new equity raise actively destroys value for existing shareholders. The company issues cheap stock to buy Bitcoin it could have bought more efficiently without the middleman. Shareholders get diluted. The stock drops further.
Public Bitcoin treasury companies funneled $22.6 billion into crypto in Q3 2025 alone, roughly half the full-year total compressed into a single quarter.
Winners, losers, and defectors
Not every firm is struggling equally. In late May 2026, Strive’s SATA vehicle acquired approximately 1,469 BTC over just three days, setting multiple purchase records and reportedly surpassing Coinbase’s Bitcoin holdings. At the other end of the spectrum, companies are quietly walking away from the strategy entirely.
K Wave Media announced plans to redirect up to $485 million in planned Bitcoin treasury funding toward AI data centers. French firm Sequans is also pivoting away from BTC-focused balance sheet strategies.
Some firms have adopted preferred equity structures instead of common stock offerings. Preferred shares create a fixed obligation rather than diluting the common share count, which means existing shareholders retain more upside during Bitcoin price rallies.
KindlyMD’s merger with Nakamoto Holdings in August 2025 raised approximately $763 million and resulted in an acquisition of 5,700 BTC.
What this means for investors
The 40% of firms trading below NAV is the clearest warning signal. If you’re buying shares of a company whose sole thesis is “we hold Bitcoin” and you’re paying less than the Bitcoin is worth on a per-share basis, it either means the market sees structural risk in the company itself, or it expects further dilution to erode whatever discount currently exists.
Executives in the sector have pointed to a $3 trillion potential opportunity in BTC-backed digital credit as the next evolution, with firms potentially using their BTC holdings as collateral to generate yield or issue credit products.
The competitive landscape is fracturing. Aggressive accumulators like Strive are doubling down. Disillusioned participants like K Wave are exiting. For investors watching this space, the key metric isn’t how much Bitcoin a company holds. It’s the premium or discount to NAV, and which direction that number is trending.
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