Crypto Treasury Firms Could Become Long-Term Giants
Analyst Ryan Watkins argues that crypto treasury firms become long-term giants in the evolving blockchain economy. He sees them rising beyond speculative play into durable ecosystem builders.
Watkins notes that Digital Asset Treasury (DAT) firms currently manage around $105 billion in crypto assets. He believes some DATs can transform into multi-business powerhouses.
From Speculators to Builders
Traditionally, these firms acted as token hoarders or hedge funds. Watkins urges them to adopt a more holistic role. He envisions DATs that build businesses, govern networks, and reinvest yields. He likens the future models to Berkshire Hathaway, but in crypto.
Unlike MicroStrategy’s singular bitcoin-heavy strategy, DATs hold programmable assets like ETH or SOL. These tokens can be staked, lent, used in liquidity provision, or to govern protocols. Watkins’s view expects winners to run operating businesses inside the networks they hold.
Key Features That Could Define Winners
Watkins outlines features that may separate winners from losers:
- Capital Deployment: Use treasury holdings to fund new ventures inside ecosystems.
- Operating Assets: Acquire primatives such as validators, indexers, or RPC infrastructure.
- Governance Power: Influence protocol decisions through token holdings.
- Yield Generation: Stake, lend, or participate in yield strategies to produce sustainable returns.
He warns that DATs lacking these capabilities may fade. Only those with disciplined capital logic and operational skill will endure.
Risks & Challenges Ahead
Even with promise, Watkins cautions: not all DATs have the right structure or leadership. Many current ones lean heavily on financial engineering rather than real business operations. As token markets fluctuate, balance sheet pressures may hit weak DATs hard.
Another risk: regulatory scrutiny. As firms accumulate large crypto portfolios and govern protocol roles, they may face new rules and oversight.
Competition matters too. As more DATs appear, the ones that cannot scale or differentiate may be squeezed out.
Recent Moves & Industry Signals
Some moves in the market echo this trend. New treasury-style firms and large crypto allocations are gaining attention.
For instance, HashKey, a licensed Hong Kong exchange, launched a $500 million digital treasury fund to mirror this model.
In the U.S., a merger created ProCap Financial, a bitcoin treasury company aiming to manage up to $1 billion in bitcoin holdings.
Such initiatives suggest early adoption of Watkins’s thesis. They push the idea that firms can combine treasury holdings and operational business.
Implications for Investors & Ecosystems
If DATs truly become long-term giants, they transform dynamics across crypto ecosystems:
- Token holders may gain exposure to multiple revenue streams inside networks.
- Protocols could see more aligned, capitalized participants in governance.
- Traditional finance may take notice, seeing these as hybrid investment vehicles.
- Diffused power could centralize over time, as successful DATs gain influence.
Investors might start valuing DATs not just by token holdings but by operational footprint, revenues, and business value.
Looking Forward
Watkins’s argument reframes how we see “treasury firms.” He challenges the notion they are transient speculators. According to him, crypto treasury firms become long-term giants by evolving their role.
In the coming years, we may see consolidation. The top DATs may dominate blockchains, capital, and governance. Others will either adapt or falter.
The key: those with vision, discipline, operations, and capital insight may truly become the Berkshire Hathaways of crypto.
