按周付息优先股续命，DAT时代是否就此落幕？

Odaily Planet Daily News, June 3rd - Bitmine, the Ethereum treasury company under Tom Lee, announced plans to publicly issue 9.50% perpetual preferred stock, raising $300 million, with dividends paid weekly in cash. Previously at the end of May, Strategy sold 32 Bitcoin for approximately $2.5 million, its first Bitcoin sale in four years, to pay preferred stock dividends. This news triggered a sharp downturn: Bitcoin fell below $65,000, dropping over 14% in two trading days.

These two events point to a common dilemma for DAT companies: after their mNAV (Market cap / Net Asset Value of cryptocurrency holdings, i.e., how much the market is willing to pay for each dollar of the company's coins) fell below 1, the equity issuance channel for financing effectively closed. With dividends and debts being fixed expenses, the companies are forced to sell coins to meet payments, thereby exacerbating the selling pressure – creating a downward spiral cycle. Currently, the mNAV of Strategy and Bitmine stands at 0.82 and 0.80, respectively.

SoSoValue researchers believe that the capital flow in this Bitcoin cycle has been driven by two engines in sequence first: DAT companies borrowing to buy coins, followed by sustained net inflows into spot ETFs. Now, both engines have simultaneously stalled. SoSoValue's ETF dashboard and crypto stock dashboard show that BTC spot ETFs have experienced net outflows for 12 consecutive days, with cumulative net outflows approaching $4 billion; ETH spot ETFs have seen net outflows for 16 consecutive days, totaling approximately $800 million. Meanwhile, the DAT camp, led by Strategy and Bitmine, has collectively fallen below mNAV. Whether the crisis facing DAT companies marks the bottom of this crypto cycle, following the simultaneous drying up of these two major sources of incremental capital, remains to be seen.