The digital asset treasury (DAT) model that swept through public markets between 2020 and 2025 is unraveling. Falling bitcoin prices, mounting debt obligations, and shifting corporate strategies have forced a wave of publicly listed companies to liquidate holdings, restructure operations, or abandon crypto entirely.
Bitcoin trades near $64,000, down roughly 50% from its October 2025 peak above $126,000. The decline has squeezed companies that borrowed aggressively to accumulate BTC, creating a cascade of margin pressure and strategic pivots.
A Coordinated Unwind
According to Matthew Sigel, Head of Digital Assets Research at VanEck, the sell-off spans both specialist treasury firms and crypto-adjacent companies. The pattern is remarkably consistent: sell bitcoin, repay convertible debt, and in several cases, redirect capital toward artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), the firm that pioneered the DAT model under Michael Saylor, has sold approximately 3,620 BTC in recent weeks. The company authorized additional sales to support its U.S. dollar reserves, though it remains the largest publicly listed holder with over 840,000 BTC. Saylor indicated the company may sell additional bitcoin to fund a dividend, framing it as a way to "inoculate the market" rather than a signal of broader exit intentions.
Satsuma Technology (SATS), an LSE-listed firm, saw shareholders approve the liquidation of all 668 BTC, return of capital, and delisting from the London Stock Exchange. Another London-listed entity, Smarter Web Company (SWC), sold 178 BTC to repay a convertible instrument.
"When we entered into Smarter Convert in August 2025, it provided an innovative alternative to traditional leverage," said SWC CEO Andrew Webley. "We do not currently believe they represent the right capital solution for The Smarter Web Company."
The Imitators Fall Faster
The companies that copied Strategy's playbook are faring considerably worse than the originator.
Nakamoto (NAKI), the SPAC vehicle tied to Bitcoin Inc. and UTXO Management, has seen its shares fall 99% since its May 2025 merger. The firm sold roughly 284 BTC to raise $20 million for working capital. Nearly 70% of its remaining 5,342 BTC are pledged against a Kraken loan maturing in December, creating what Sigel described as a potential binary event.
Sequans Communications (SQNS) sold 1,025 BTC before disposing of nearly 80% of its remaining holdings to repay convertible debt. The company has ruled out further purchases and plans to monetize its remaining 658 BTC. Empery Digital has reportedly sold almost half its bitcoin to finance buybacks and debt repayment.
Leadership turbulence has compounded the unwinding. Jack Mallers stepped down as CEO of Twenty One Capital, while Adam Back's Bitcoin Standard Treasury Company (BSTR) failed to complete its proposed merger due to unfavorable market conditions.
Miners Pivot to AI
The sell-off extends beyond treasury companies. Major mining operations including MARA Holdings and Bitdeer are liquidating bitcoin holdings to repay debt and repurpose their energy infrastructure for AI data centers.
This pivot reflects a broader trend: energy-rich bitcoin mining sites increasingly view AI compute as a more reliable revenue stream than cryptocurrency rewards, particularly in a depressed price environment. The infrastructure — power purchase agreements, cooling systems, and land — transfers more readily to AI workloads than to alternative crypto operations.
Structural Implications
The DAT model depended on a rising bitcoin price to offset the cost of leverage. When BTC traded above $100,000, convertible instruments and debt-financed purchases created positive carry. Below $70,000, the math inverts: debt service consumes cash reserves, share prices decouple from NAV, and the premium that justified the structure evaporates.
Strategy's overhaul of its reporting metrics, released this week, attempts to address this by giving common shareholders a clearer view of net bitcoin exposure after preferred stock and convertible debt obligations. The new framework effectively acknowledges that the company's capital structure has become too complex for traditional BTC-per-share calculations.
The broader signal is clear: the era of leveraged bitcoin accumulation by public companies is pausing, if not ending. Those that survive are either large enough to weather the drawdown, pivoting to AI infrastructure, or quietly returning capital to shareholders before the situation deteriorates further.
For bitcoin's market structure, the sustained selling from public companies adds supply pressure that retail and ETF inflows alone may struggle to absorb. The next cycle of accumulation, if it comes, will likely be driven by different participants with different cost bases and different time horizons.