Retail investors chasing a second Michael Saylor into the Digital Asset Treasury (DAT) craze are estimated to have suffered about $17 billion in losses. DATs aimed to raise cash to purchase liquid assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, linking asset value to stock prices. However, newer DAT firms accepted in-kind contributions of illiquid, unlisted tokens or low-liquidity altcoins and priced these assets at inflated levels to boost the DAT’s net asset value (NAV). The funds were raised and listings launched, but once the contributed tokens hit the market and fell in price, shareholders—especially retail investors—bore the losses.
This year DAT markets peaked around $125 billion NAV in October, but have since eased. NAV multiples for high-profile DAT assets surged to 40x for SOL-based assets and 20x for others before premiums collapsed to about 1–2x as the market cooled.
Tharimmune, a DAT start-up, priced Canton Coin at $0.20 per unit; after listing, it traded around $0.11, illustrating the risk of in-kind valuation inflation. The firm raised about $545 million privately, but 80% of the funding came in-kind rather than cash. The Canton Coin’s listing-day decline highlighted the valuation risk. Alt5 Sigma faced a similar pattern.
Flora Growth raised $410 million via the 0G token DAT, but actual cash was only $35 million, with the remainder funded by in-kind 0G tokens priced at $3; the current price of these tokens is about $1.20. The stock prices of these issuers fell more than 65% after unveiling their DAT strategies.
10X Research estimates that losses to individual investors from these DAT-model equities totaled roughly $170 billion. Chris Holland of HM warned that when markets turn against the assets, retail investors end up absorbing all the losses as insiders evade accountability. Artemis Terminal data show that this year’s DAT market NAV peaked near $125 billion in October, while NAV multiples surged to extreme levels before cooling off. As the market cooled, premiums collapsed to about 1–2x, signaling a sharp cooling of investor sentiment toward DAT.
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