Written by: Charlie Little Sun
Introduction
Recently, I have written some articles and met some new friends, and in our conversations, my former boss Jack Mallers often comes up, leading the Tether + SoftBank + Cantor team to form Twenty One.
Unlike other DATs (at least in narrative), his "native" concept has actually inspired my thinking about the business models of future companies.
In the past, we thought of the web3 and web2 worlds as separate, but in the future, more and more web3 native products and businesses will reshape the entire global economic landscape.
Just like the last cycle was "Every company will become a fintech company," the next cycle should be "Every company will become a DAT company."
Corporate finance is undergoing a quiet revolution.
In the past, top executives focused their energy on pricing power, working capital, and tax structures.
Now, the most astute CFOs have an adjustable throttle—Digital Asset Treasury (DAT).
The focus is not on turning oneself into a crypto company, but on operating the company better.
Core business continues as usual, but the treasury is built into a second engine—assets that are more decentralized, more liquid, more global, and natively operating on the internet.
DAT is no longer a niche strategy
I remember in the policy memo I wrote to the President of El Salvador in 2021, only MicroStrategy and Tesla had incorporated Bitcoin into their balance sheets.
Now, 172 publicly traded companies hold BTC, and corporate treasuries at the public level manage over 6% of the total Bitcoin supply.
Ethereum has also evolved from a testing ground to a second reserve option, with dozens of institutions holding over 4 million ETH, and even Solana is starting to emerge on the corporate side.
The common configuration method is long-term holding and participating in staking to earn protocol rewards.
This is not a show; it is a structural shift in treasury thinking from "defense—preservation of value—liquidity" to "resilience—returns—liquidity."
BTC Camp
Bitcoin remains the ballast.
Strategy Inc. (formerly MicroStrategy) has paved the way as a pioneer: financing BTC with a combination of cash, convertible bonds, and equity, holding through cycles, allowing fair value accounting to honestly present the two sides of volatility.
Mining companies like Marathon provide a second paradigm: HODL output, prudently lend to earn returns, and complete financing during bull market windows to support operations in bear markets.
The core lesson is simple: treat Bitcoin as "strategic inventory," not as "trading positions."
Companies that survived the last bear market all extended their debt structures and resolutely avoided being forced to sell at the bottom.
The new change in 2025 is the "Bitcoin native" public listing vehicle designed from the start with this approach.
My former boss Jack Mallers' Twenty One—backed by Tether and SoftBank, in partnership with Cantor—plans to start with over 42,000 BTC at listing, with a clear KPI of "maximizing Bitcoin per share" (BPS).
This is not a passive business: it accumulates BTC long-term while also engaging in education, advocacy, content, and Bitcoin native products.
Thus, the company is not just a balance sheet but a distribution ecosystem that continuously spreads the Bitcoin-based concept.
In a more favorable policy climate, the strategic value of this alliance is self-evident: Tether's leading stablecoin + SoftBank's dominance in the multinational tech industry + Cantor's influence on U.S. policy.
Of course, we must also add Jack Mallers' top-notch evangelism skills.
ETH Camp
Ethereum also has its own DAT prototype, with three highly recognizable cases that illustrate the point.
Ethereum co-founder Joe Lubin has transformed SharpLink into an ETH native treasury vehicle, incorporating hundreds of thousands of ETH into its balance sheet and clearly embracing staking and DeFi integration—more like "ETH version of Saylor + Staking," rather than passive investment.
Recent reports show that SharpLink's holdings are approaching 800,000 ETH after additional purchases, along with over $400 million in capital actions, completely restructuring the company from a "gaming business" to an "Ethereum operating platform."
Tom Lee, the former chief equity strategist at JPMorgan who understands Wall Street thinking best, has taken on the role of chairman at BitMine Immersion, shifting the company from pure mining to actively accumulating and staking ETH.
Disclosures show it holds over $3 billion worth of ETH, and Lee has publicly expressed ambitions to "acquire and stake up to 5% of the total supply"—this is a blatant "DAT rather than ETF" blueprint, matching the scale of the balance sheet with the depth of on-chain operations.
ETHZilla is a combination of "ETH accumulation + DeFi native yields + builder network." The endorsement from Electric Capital is significant: this is not an index fund disguised as a company, but an operational platform that can co-build with protocol teams, direct the treasury into high-quality on-chain scenarios, and continuously compound ETH exposure.
If BTC-type DAT corresponds to "perfect collateral + long-term scarcity," then ETH-type DAT leans more towards "programmable cash flow + ecological reach."
The Rise of the SOL Camp
Solana's emergence on the corporate side has just begun, but the signals are significant.
Upexi announced a shift towards Solana-type DAT, planning to raise $100 million to create a SOL treasury with the support of GSR, and the Solana Foundation has publicly endorsed it.
DeFi Development Corp has disclosed holdings of over one million SOL, advocating for long-term holding and staking, positioning itself as a SOL native treasury vehicle rather than a passive holder.
At the same time, Galaxy, Jump, Multicoin, and others are brewing plans to establish a $1 billion Solana treasury through a publicly traded company, also receiving support from Cantor.
Why pursue DAT?
The modern treasury of a CFO has three core responsibilities: preserving purchasing power, ensuring liquidity anytime and anywhere, and continuously creating strategic options.
Bitcoin can outpace fiat currency depreciation and hedge against inflation, and in the long term, it has strong non-correlation with stocks and bonds.
Ethereum, and even more aggressive Solana, brings returns through staking.
Stablecoins serve as global operating capital—real-time settlement, transparent fees, programmable, suitable for cross-border business.
Putting these together, corporate treasuries transform from "static burdens" to "dynamic systems."
And stablecoins are actually the underestimated mainline here.
From 2024 to 2025, the product-market fit (PMF) of stablecoins is indisputable, and payment giants are beginning to fully integrate.
The signal conveyed by Stripe's acquisition of Bridge is clear: settlements should be completed at internet speed, and merchants need more predictable control over fees and foreign exchange costs.
As the U.S. regulatory framework gradually clarifies, dollar stablecoins will evolve into "ordinary corporate cash equivalents"—the only difference being minute-level arrival, 24/7 operation, and the ability to be integrated into workflows.
This is also why DAT is not just about putting crypto on the balance sheet.
It is more like a global cash operating system, better suited for the future global multinational 24/7 business model.
What about market volatility?
Skeptics may ask, "What if crypto assets drop 80% again?"
The answer lies in "design."
DATs that can traverse cycles will maintain a buffer of fiat/stablecoins covering years of daily expenses and debt service, using low-interest, long-term debt structures, and choosing to enter capital markets during strong windows.
At the same time, accounting standards are transitioning from "historical cost" to "fair value," reducing information asymmetry and allowing CFOs to manage BTC and ETH like other market-cap assets.
Why is DAT superior to ETF?
Another question arises: since there are spot ETFs, why hold DAT?
Because DAT can do things that ETFs cannot.
It can actively optimize entry points, leverage or finance opportunistically, stake ETH and SOL for returns, prudently lend BTC, and even create products and content, expanding the real demand for "native products" that enhance the underlying network.
What investors are buying is equity in a company that "comes with a treasury," not a share that collects management fees without strategic upside.
In short, ETFs only give you "exposure," while DAT can provide you with alpha and "influence."
The Complete Picture of Stablecoins and RWA
A fully on-chain treasury can use stablecoins as cash, deploy RWA for low-risk returns, and configure long-term upward assets with BTC/ETH—all within the same wallet, easily transferable between subsidiaries and upstream/downstream partners, unrestricted by bank operating hours.
Taking OKX, which balances both the U.S. and offshore, as an example, in terms of stablecoins, OKX collaborates with USDG to build a global dollar network, allowing USDG to earn interest automatically within its exchange accounts, enhancing the efficiency of idle funds without sacrificing liquidity.
When U.S. policies open the door for tokenized assets in long-term accounts like 401(k)s, while establishing a federal-level stablecoin framework, corporate finance and crypto infrastructure will truly converge.
In this puzzle, the integration of "payments—transactions—on-chain settlement" is becoming an industry consensus.
Whoever embraces it first sets the standard; the earlier companies operationalize it, the more they can compound.
DAT is the future for every company
Returning to the opening statement: every company should become a DAT company.
Because the future business world is—whether between employees or with upstream and downstream customers and partners—a global multinational 24x7 year-round world.
First, a company's "first principles" should still be its core business—continuously producing good products, serving customers well, caring for employees, and maintaining cash flow.
But on top of that, a layer of DAT strategy can be added, aligning more with the future global multinational 24/7 business model.
A prudent proportion of BTC can be retained for long-term protection and alpha, or ETH/SOL can be gradually accumulated based on the business roadmap and revenue needs; stablecoins can serve as the lifeblood of global operating capital; and RWA can be treated as high liquidity assets equivalent to cash.
First, ensure runway; second, control leverage; and finally, focus on narrative—you're not just protecting the balance sheet; you're turning it into a "competitive weapon" for the enterprise.
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