Original author: Fairy, ChainCatcher
Original editor: TB, ChainCatcher
The market always creates stories in unexpected ways.
From MicroStrategy to the ETH version, SOL version, and XRP version of MicroStrategy, micro-listed companies that were originally ignored in the U.S. stock market have become carriers and amplifiers of new stories.
The trend of alternative grafting of crypto assets and traditional stock markets is quietly spreading. Is this a further evolution of crypto-financialization, or a narrative bubble built up by high leverage?
MicroStrategys clones: Who are the stocks that doubled their money by hoarding coins?
The crypto treasury strategy has become a dominant trend in the capital market. According to data from Bitcointreasuries, 211 entities around the world hold a total of more than 3.37 million bitcoins, of which listed companies hold about 800,000, and the number is still growing. Recently, Trumps Trump Media Technology Group has also entered the market, raising about $2.5 billion through private placement to build a Bitcoin treasury.
To explore further, we compiled a list of MicroStrategy clones:
Many of the companies in the figure had mediocre operations or even financial difficulties before they got involved in crypto assets. For example, Upexis financial revenue declined and its net losses widened in the second half of 2024. However, since the release of its reserve strategy, its stock price has risen by more than 300%. Similar cases are not uncommon, and some companies have achieved several times or even dozens of times the increase in the capital market with this strategy.
At the same time, multi-currency versions of micro-strategies are also emerging. Clean energy solution provider Worksport invested its cash reserves in BTC and XRP; e-commerce company GD Culture Group received a $300 million financing commitment and plans to purchase Bitcoin and TRUMP as long-term reserve assets. All these trends show that more and more traditional companies are trying to achieve strategic transformation and market repricing through crypto assets.
Generalization of gameplay: borrowing coins to trade stocks, borrowing stocks to raise coins
The micro-strategy path is essentially very low-threshold: continuously issuing stocks and bonds to complete financing, and then allocating the funds obtained to crypto assets, and then using financial reports as valuation anchors to feed back stock price performance. The difference lies in details such as who has stronger fundraising capabilities, which currencies to choose to allocate, and whether to choose to pledge to obtain income.
Two days ago, SharpLink Gaming announced a $425 million private placement and included ETH in its treasury, becoming a typical example of this model: raising funds at a price lower than the net asset value, purchasing and pledging ETH; when the stock price is higher than the net value of ETH per share, raising funds again, and repeating this cycle.
It is worth noting that the investors in this round are almost all old institutions that invested heavily in Ethereum in the early years, such as ConsenSys, ParaFi, and Pantera. SharpLinks previous market value was only about 10 million US dollars. It only needs to issue 69.1 million new shares at a low price to transfer 90% of the control to the Ethereum camp.
To some extent, this type of operation is exactly the same as the operating logic of the previous crypto spot ETF application wave: companies and token project parties join hands to create expectations and valuation bubbles through capital market means. Buy coins - install tables - trade stocks has also become a new path for token projects to borrow from the US stock market. Crypto KOL AB Kuai.Dong revealed that in addition to the officially announced ETH and SOL micro-strategy plans, there are rumors in the market that there are 6-7 projects that are in the shell-hunting and negotiation stage, which have not yet been disclosed to the public. In addition, VCs and market makers have also quietly transformed, turning to looking for US stock listed shells, acquisitions, fundraising, and buying coins.
Mainstreaming or capital illusion?
The stock price curve injects fluctuations into the chain, and the flywheel is turning but the direction is unclear. Can such operations really work in the long run and create structural value, or is it just a capital illusion in a sophisticated package?
Crypto KOL @lowstrife gave his warning: These so-called crypto reserves are actually a destructive leverage structure, and the essence behind it is to provide cash flow for token holdings by continuously diluting common shareholders equity. This path works particularly well for MicroStrategy, provided that its stock price is higher than the value of its Bitcoin holdings (mNAV > 1). Once this balance point is broken, the entire flywheel may stall or even reverse.
However, is it really feasible to replicate this model? Matt Levine, a Bloomberg financial columnist, pointed out that MicroStrategy has first-mover advantage, strong investor relations, effective market narrative, and systematic channels for inclusion in ETFs and indexes. But ironically, this logic is now copied by a group of small and micro strategy companies, but the market seems to expect a premium for every newcomer. Matt wrote: The current situation is like the crypto circle is constantly playing tricks on the U.S. stock market, and the U.S. stock market is fooled again and again.
From the communitys perspective, the sustainability of this structure is also questionable. Community member @0x dafu believes that the continued operation of this structure depends on the relative stability of the underlying assets. Bitcoin can carry infinite imagination, but the stock market valuation cannot infinitely overdraw the market dream rate. Community user @connect 1998 even likened this cycle to an Evergrande-style capital game: asset mortgage brings financing, financing and asset allocation, and eventually piles up into huge debts and bubbles. Once the market no longer buys it, the consequence may not only be a halving of valuations, but a systematic retracement.
Stories can be copied, but value cannot be faked.
When the logic of capital engulfs the ideal of encryption, and when the banner of mainstreaming is alienated into a leverage-driven financial model, is this evolution or another form of selling?
