Just a few months after its unprecedented boom, the crypto corporate treasury sector is facing its first challenges. This loss of momentum could position Ethereum as the best possible option, ahead of Bitcoin and Solana.
Crypto treasuries vs. mNAV: facing “market saturation”
Initially, there were a few entrepreneurs determined to accumulate Bitcoin in order to protect their companies’ balance sheets. Then feverish activity took hold of the sector, to the point where there are now nearly 200 companies holding BTC in their treasuries, and many others that have turned to the altcoin market.
This proliferation has been analyzed by investment bank Standard Chartered in a recent report. In particular, it identifies what it calls a “recent collapse in mNAV,” a unit of measurement used to estimate the amount of cryptocurrency held per share by these Digital Asset Treasuries (DATs).
In practice, a multiple of net asset value (mNAV) greater than 1 allows a company to be valued above its gross assets by the market, with the direct consequence of allowing it to issue new shares in order to continue accumulating cryptocurrencies. A value below 1 makes this operation much more difficult and risky.
According to Standard Chartered data, several leading crypto treasury companies have recently seen their mNAV fall below this critical threshold. This position clearly puts a brake on their expansion strategies, to the point of raising the question of “market saturation.”
The recent collapse in crypto treasuries’ mNAVs is likely to lead to market differentiation and consolidation. This situation will favor the largest players, those with the cheapest financing, and those benefiting from staking returns.
Standard Chartered
Ethereum: a competitive advantage
Despite the leading positions of some of them, Bitcoin-related corporate treasuries are clearly suffering from their oversupply, with an estimated accumulation of 5% of the total BTC supply, for a total of $116 billion.
At the same time, treasuries dedicated to Solana (SOL) are beginning to appear, lagging behind the dynamics of this market, which could face headwinds, such as the Nasdaq’s recent requirement for stricter consideration of shareholder opinions. They currently account for just over 6.5 million SOL, estimated at $1.5 billion.
For their part, Ethereum treasuries appear much stronger, with better mNAV premiums and pre-approved buying strategies.
As a result, they are at the forefront of what is likely to be a “head-to-head competition” to continue attracting capital and investors.
We believe that such flows are more likely to go to Ethereum treasuries than to their Bitcoin or Solana counterparts.
Standard Chartered
Currently, 11 publicly traded companies hold nearly 3% of the circulating supply of Ether (ETH)—approximately $15.5 billion—as part of a corporate treasury, with leaders such as Bitmine and SharpLink Gaming.
