Once upon a crypto summer, corporate treasuries were gobbling up Bitcoin like it was going out of style, until the party hit the brakes hard.
Bloomberg dropped a bombshell revealing that corporate buying of crypto treasury tokens has tanked 76% since July.
Early summer saw firms snap up 64,000 BTC, but by August, that number dipped to a mere 12,600, with September barely clawing back to 15,500. The crypto sparkle dimmed, and fast.
Unusual trading activity
The crypto market is feeling the sting, with Bitcoin itself slipping nearly 6% in the past week amid a selloff featuring frantic liquidations.
Shares of crypto treasury firms, which once raised serious cash via PIPE, or Private Investment in Public Equity deals, are now trading at rock-bottom prices, sometimes plunging as much as 97% below where they started. Ouch.
Why the meltdown? Regulatory hawks in the US have their binoculars glued on the so-called unusual trading activity surrounding these crypto treasury shares before their token acquisitions.
Markus Thielen from 10x Research calls out a murky side, lack of transparency on how much these tokens really cost and the true share counts.
Add in the headache of warrants causing crazy swings and dilution, and you have a recipe for investor headaches.
Valuations are crashing down
The math behind the madness is the so-called market-cap-to-NAV multiple, aka how much the stock price outpaces the actual value of Bitcoin these firms hold. That gap? Shrinking like a wool sweater in a hot wash.
Market prices are beginning to sync up with the reality of crypto holdings, which means previously hyped-up valuations are crashing down to earth.
This slump is pulling the institutional rug right out from under crypto.
Bloomberg calls it a feedback loop where fewer steady buyers means less demand, which spooks the market more, and round it goes, like a merry-go-round you’re desperate to jump off.
The space is now a two-speed market, derivatives are in a world of hurt with futures demand tanking and over $275 million wiped from Bitcoin longs in just a day.
The music is slowing down
On the flip side, not all is doom and gloom. Crypto-focused investment vehicles like the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF are soaking up cash, $2.5 billion in inflows for September, up from $707 million in August.
Jeff Dorman, Arca’s chief investment officer, sums up the scene, the market’s current wobble isn’t a frenzy of sell-offs but more a cautious freeze due to less action from the big crypto treasury buyers.
The absence of these giant whales has turned the tide into one of watchful waiting. So no, the party isn’t over, but the music is slowing down.
Cryptocurrency and Web3 expert, founder of Kriptoworld
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With years of experience covering the blockchain space, András delivers insightful reporting on DeFi, tokenization, altcoins, and crypto regulations shaping the digital economy.
