Over the last quarter, Wall Street brokers figured out how to sell expensive crypto-backed equities, and investors’ appetite for new ticker symbols is ravenous.
Observing the success of MicroStrategy’s persistent, multi-billion dollar premium to its bitcoin (BTC) holdings, a cornucopia of companies boasting about their BTC and altcoin treasuries have spawned onto stock markets across the globe.
Six months ago, there were less than 70 public companies holding BTC. Today, there are over 130.
In addition, there are now various altcoin treasury companies holding ether (ETH), solana (SOL), XRP, and other assets.
Booming market for publicly-listed crypto treasuries
Consider Tether and Bitfinex’s version of MicroStrategy, Twenty One (CEP), which rallied to over 300% the value of its BTC within one day of its debut on public markets.
Other publicly traded crypto treasury companies have performed even better. Upexi rallied above a 4x multiple-to-net asset value (mNAV) after it announced its Solana (SOL) treasury.
Another public company, SOL Strategies, rallied above an 8x mNAV. Some foreign and microcap companies have attained even more breathless valuations.
Even Circle (CRCL), which issues a stablecoin designed to never increase in value, priced its IPO at $31 yet rallied to $138 within three trading sessions.
Obviously, the prospect of buying crypto and immediately selling stock tied to that same purchase — overvalued, of course, by a lavish multiple — has transfixed Wall Street deal-makers.
Bury the fine print
Mergers often involve lengthy regulatory filings describing a labyrinth of bonds, warrants, options, preferreds, PIPEs, restricted series, or other securities that temporarily obscure the relationship between the company’s market cap and its crypto holdings.
Kindly MD, for example, opened at $28.51 after it announced a BTC treasury but halved to $13.69 less than six hours later as investors processed its lengthy 8-K and 424(b)(3) filings.
After two more days of long-form reading, its shares had dipped below $8.
For a moment at the peak of its valuation, Kindly’s mNAV exceeded 23x.
Read more: MicroStrategy wannabes and the return of mNAV mania
Scammers eye the crypto treasury market
Amid this environment of seemingly easy money, grifters have entered the sector alongside legitimate operators. Microcap companies have announced “plans” to acquire mountains of crypto assets — often more than they possess in market capitalization — simply to enjoy a headline-induced, momentary price jump.
VanEck’s Head of Digital Assets used a plain name for many of these promotions: pump and dump.
“If the market cap is de minimus and there is no disclosure of new anchor investors,” he said. “I assume it’s a scam.”
In short, Wall Street’s embrace of crypto-backed equities has fueled a speculative frenzy. Unprecedented opportunities and heightened risks of market manipulation are new features of the publicly traded treasuries of BTC and large altcoins.
