The rise of Digital Asset Treasury Companies (DATs) has emerged as a defining trend in the crypto industry since 2020, growing from just 4 companies to 142 by October 2025, with 76 formed in 2025 alone, according to a CoinGecko report. These firms have deployed $42.7 billion into crypto assets in 2025, with over half of that amount, $22.6 billion, spent in the third quarter alone, making Q3 the strongest period for DAT accumulation.
Bitcoin-focused DATs dominated the market, accounting for 70.3% of all purchases with $30.0 billion in BTC acquisitions in 2025. Ethereum DATs were the second-largest group, spending $7.9 billion on ETH, primarily in August. Other assets, including SOL, BNB, and WLFI, represented 11.2% of total purchases, and CoinGecko expects this share to rise as more altcoin-centric DATs deploy capital.
Strategy leads as the largest DATCo, holding $70.7 billion in BTC, which is roughly half of all DAT-owned digital assets and 3.05% of the total Bitcoin supply. Total DAT holdings reached $137.3 billion by end-October 2025, up 139.6% year-to-date. Among the top 15 DATCos, only three are altcoin-focused, such as BitMine Immersion, Sharplink, and Forward Industries, all entering after June 2025.
DAT company stocks experienced extreme volatility, surging within the first 10 days after announcing their pivot. For instance, BitMine Immersion saw a +3,069% return, but these gains were short-lived, with most stocks correcting sharply afterward. ALT5 Sigma dropped -71% 44 days post-pivot, and its WLFI holdings underperformed, falling -56% from launch day. Metaplanet was an outlier, taking 269 days to hit a peak return of ~6,200% after an initial 100% bump.
This volatility has sparked regulatory concerns, with the SEC and FINRA investigating potential insider trading, as early buyers or insiders often benefited most from the price pumps. Despite the stock corrections, the massive capital inflow highlights DATs' growing influence on the crypto market.
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