Why Are U.S. Companies Going Crypto-Crazy? The Bizarre Logic of Bitcoin Treasuries and Meme Coins
Recently, U.S. listed companies have been on a cryptocurrency buying spree, driven by a simple yet wild logic: the U.S. stock market values $1 of crypto at $2. If you hold a lot of crypto, instead of selling it directly, merging with a small public company can double its value instantly! This “Bitcoin Treasury” model is spawning a series of magical market phenomena.
Bitcoin Treasuries: Turning $100M Bitcoin into $200M
Suppose you have $100 million in Bitcoin. Selling it on crypto markets gets you $100M, but merging with a public company could value it at $200M on the stock market. Even if the listed firm is a “zombie” (like a failing biotech company), you’d happily pay $40M for its listing status—after all, you’d still net $60M profit.
This has created two hot businesses:
1. Selling “listing shells”: Small public companies (especially hollow “zombie firms”) are in demand because they can easily transform into “crypto-holding platforms.” Investment banks even offer “blank check companies” (SPACs) to skip the hassle of revamping biotech/toy firms, like Cantor Fitzgerald did in April—helping Bitfinex/Tether and SoftBank list Bitcoin as Twenty One Capital, with shares trading at a 200% premium to Bitcoin’s value.
2. Selling to stocks > selling to crypto buyers: 1,000 Bitcoin might fetch $118M on crypto exchanges, but packaging it as a listed “treasury company” could sell for $236M. So crypto whales want to be treasury bosses, not sell to peers.
Can This Last?
Even Blockstream’s Adam Back listed 30,021 Bitcoin ($3.5B) via SPAC, making BSTR Holdings the 4th-largest public Bitcoin treasury. But a problem arises: If every crypto whale lists their own treasury, how will existing ones buy more Bitcoin? Small investors might foot the bill, but long-term, if “treasury creation” outpaces demand, premiums could collapse. BSTR’s premium is already down to 39%—maybe the market is cooling?
Meme Coins: It’s All About the “Vibe,” Not Logic
Traditional finance links assets to arbitrage mechanisms, but meme coins laugh at that: Cool name + hype = value. Dogecoin rises because people talk about “doge”; Gen Z now trades meme coins tied to slang like “huzz” or “baddie”—the trendier the word, the higher the price. College student Boeshi invests by tracking slang virality: “More usage = higher coin price,” ignoring questions about arbitrage.
But the reality is grim: 82.6% of high-yield meme coins use manipulation like wash trading or pump-and-dumps. That “hype = value” narrative? Probably just a banker’s story.
Whether it’s Bitcoin treasuries’ “valuation magic” or meme coins’ “vibe economics,” Web3 markets keep surprising. Just remember: When everyone tries to profit from “packaging,” the first to get caught naked swimming might surface soon.
Read More《彭博首席财经作家:当每个公司都想要比特币小金库》
This content is AI-generated and does not constitute investment advice. Please exercise your own rational judgment.
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