OpinionBitcoinAltcoinsSolana
|4 min ReadThe broken proxy trade in crypto stocks
Maya Chen
Senior Analyst
Published
Jan 16, 2026
Coins climb, but their equity wrappers lag
Everybody wants a treasury. Companies rebrand as Digital-Asset Treasuries, promise clean crypto exposure, and tell shareholders to watch “coin per share.” The story sells. The tape disagrees. Over the past two months, across Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana, the median DAT stock of the top three treasuries has underperformed its underlying coin. Prices for many of these equities still sit far below their peaks. That turns a cute narrative into a structural problem. The equity wrapper is not delivering token beta like it used to.
If the proxy worked, equity performance would roughly track the coin. It has not. In BTC, the basket trails even when the coin is flat or a touch higher. In ETH, dispersion is wide and the median still lags. SOL looks healthier because a couple of names surged, but the median is behind there too. Investors now have cleaner paths, from direct custody to spot ETFs. Those routes cut out capital structure risk and business noise. When the premium to own the wrapper fades, the proxy loses its appeal.
Premiums shrink, funding terms rule the day
During the rally, investors paid a premium for companies that held coins. You could capture coin appreciation and the wrapper’s premium. As the market corrected, that premium shrank. Now many DATs trade like bets on funding terms. ATM programs, secondary sales, PIPE deals, and lock-ups tug at price. Shares gravitate toward recent issue levels rather than net asset value. The first chart tells you this is not about one outlier. Execution can beat the field, but the median still lags.
There are exceptions. Strategy, the Michael Saylor-led BTC treasury giant, survived multiple cycles thanks to early moves. A lower average cost gives room to avoid forced selling to meet debt-to-equity conversion obligations. That is a beautiful position. Most entrants do not have it.
Balances across the top treasuries in each cohort are large and still growing. But newer players bought higher, often with debt or convertibles. If the market cracks, servicing those coupons can force coin sales, even as many DATs, including BTC giant Strategy, swear by a “never sell your treasury” line. Read: The DATCO Machine.
What DATs must do next to stay relevant
DATs will not vanish. They must evolve. Two paths stand out. First, build a real business that throws off steady revenue to fund operations, interest, and new coin buys. Second, pursue mergers that lift coins per share. But consolidation only works when an acquirer trading above its own NAV buys a target below NAV using stock. Otherwise it is financial theater.
The mandate is clear. Show how coin per share rises without selling the treasury. Prove you can fund yourself while keeping the stack intact. The market is not paying up just to hold coins through a noisy corporate wrapper anymore. Investors have cleaner pipes now. If the premium is gone, the proxy trade is broken. Fix the business, or the stock keeps trailing the asset. Tremendous discipline wins here.
Disclaimer: This document is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. The views expressed in this document are not, and should not be taken as, investment advice or recommendations. Recipients should do their own due diligence, taking into account their specific financial circumstances, investment objectives and risk tolerance, which are not considered here, before investing. This document is not an offer, or the solicitation of an offer, to buy or sell any of the assets mentioned.