A growing number of public companies have courted digital assets to boost their valuations, despite the industry's history of volatility.
Corporate Crypto Bets May Fuel Volatility Risks, Standard Chartered Says
11 June 2025 - 17:09 CEST
Approximately 60 public companies without previous ties to the crypto industry have pursued a Bitcoin treasury strategy, according to a report released this week by Standard Chartered, a bank.
Collectively, these companies now hold about 3% of all Bitcoin, and have diversified to purchase smaller altcoins such as Ether, XRP and Solana. While these moves have been welcomed by crypto advocates, they do raise concerns among stockholders that a significant drop in the price of such digital assets would reduce the value of crypto holdings held in corporate treasuries.
Higher prices
Those companies currently purchasing Bitcoin, and other digital assets, are doing so at much higher prices than early adopters, making them reliant on these coins maintaining current prices. Corporate treasuries buying Bitcoin and other digital assets do not inherently drive volatility and may, in some cases, provide some positive stability around the assets. However, given crypto's inherent price swings, a sharp drop could spark widespread selloffs and a hard wake-up call for companies heavily exposed.
In addition, companies that are using cryptocurrencies solely to boost their stock valuation face an even more perilous situation, making shareholders much more likely to exit in the event of a macroeconomic downturn, according to the report.
Growing interest
Still, there is a growing interest in cryptocurrencies among major banks, including JP Morgan, which reportedly plans to allow Bitcoin assets as leverage in its lending policy [Link to JPM story]. Many financial players are betting that sustained trading volumes will allow firms to raise more money, which may allow them to buy more Bitcoin.
"It is great on the way up, but when it is on the way down, it's going to be violent."
Elliot Chun, a partner at financial advisory firm Architect Partners, noted that, “We haven’t seen this type of capital activity in any crypto-related strategy within this short amount of time potentially in the history of our industry. We just have to be careful because it is great on the way up, but when it is on the way down, it’s going to be violent.”
Since the start of April, data provided by Architect Partners revealed that total capital set aside for crypto treasuries reached approximately $11.3 billion. This includes, for example, a planned $2.5 billion Bitcoin purchase from Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG), Donald Trump’s media services company.
