Crypto treasury stocks face $50B loss as shareholders revolt – What happened?

Investors who hopped into last year’s crypto boom are now turning up the pressure on digital-asset treasury (DAT) firms. In fact, both retail and institutional shareholders are now demanding greater accountability after losses across the sector reached roughly $50 billion.

According to Bloomberg, investors initially bought their shares because they expected the companies’ crypto holdings to rise in value. Along with this, they also expected that the stocks could sometimes trade at a premium to the value of the crypto they owned.

However, now that crypto prices and these stocks have fallen sharply, shareholders are questioning whether management is using their money effectively.

How an year changed the course of things?

In this shift, retail investors are becoming more vocal online, while institutional investors are pushing for changes through shareholder votes, takeover proposals, and challenges to compensation plans.

Here it’s important to note that the roughly $50 billion in cumulative losses mentioned is actually the decline in the value of these publicly traded treasury companies. And not $50 billion that shareholders necessarily lost in one particular event.

In this, the concerning part according to Artemis is that publicly listed DATs whose main treasury strategy focused on Bitcoin [BTC] and Ethereum [ETH] have a combined fully diluted market value of around $90 billion. In other words, it’s now about 40% below the sector’s previous peak.

Shockingly, this figure excludes companies whose main treasury strategy revolves around smaller altcoins such as Solana [SOL].

Solana DAT’s downfall

Yet despite the exclusion, Sky AI, formerly Sharps Technology, is a key example of the growing scrutiny around crypto treasury firms. After raising more than $400 million to build a Solana treasury, its stock has now fallen nearly 90% since August 2025.

Forward Industries, another Solana DAT, previously attempted to acquire SkyAI and is now opposing its proposed 7.2% equity allocation for about 30 employees, worth roughly $4 million at current prices.

Additionally, Investors are also questioning Sky AI’s warrants, including those granted to a strategic advisor with an estimated $101.3 million accounting fair value.

Bitcoin: Strategy’s good luck

That said, Metaplanet faced similar backlash after its stock fell about 84% from its June 2025 peak, with retail investors criticizing its incentive structure and potential dilution from warrants. This comes after the company subsequently canceled certain warrants reportedly worth around $220 million.

While all this was happening, Michael Saylor’s Strategy, which also lost its momentum a while back, saw a completely different ball game. Recently, the largest BTC DAT repurchased $139 million of STRC preferred stock. This pushed its Bitcoin holdings to reach 845,050 BTC, worth $65.83 billion, alongside $6.4 billion in USD assets, strengthening its liquidity position.

Final Summary

• $50 billion in cumulative losses is actually the decline in the value of these publicly traded treasury companies.
• Companies whose main treasury strategy did not revolve just around Bitcoin and Ethereum also faced similar downfalls.