Crypto treasury firms worth about $340 billion, still a third below last year's peak

The combined market capitalization of crypto "digital asset treasury" companies (DATs) — firms that raise capital to buy and hold tokens as a leveraged bet on the underlying asset — sits at roughly $340 billion, according to The Block's Data & Insights newsletter published September 1. That is up about 10% since mid-August, but well short of the roughly $490 billion the same cohort reached around October and November 2025, when bitcoin hit an all-time high near $126,000.

The Block reports uneven performance across the group. Strategy (MSTR) is up about 30% and Bitmine (BMNR) about 27% since the start of the current bull trend — moves the newsletter describes as broadly in line with the price appreciation of the bitcoin and ether they hold. Strategy, it adds, has outperformed bitcoin by about 10% since August 17.

The newsletter's more striking claim is that smaller "new-age" altcoin DATs have been among the best-performing crypto-linked equities this cycle. It names two, CYPH and PURR, and ties them to productive on-chain roles: PURR is said to run a Hyperliquid validator and vote in governance, while CYPH is described as operating a mining operation contributing hashrate — functions unavailable to bitcoin-only vehicles like Strategy, since bitcoin is not a yield-bearing asset. The passage linking these tickers to specific tokens is garbled in the text and the underlying assets aren't cleanly stated, so treat the specifics with caution.

Key facts

• Aggregate DAT market cap ~$340 billion, up ~10% since mid-August — The Block, Sept 1, 2026.
• Down from ~$490 billion around Oct–Nov 2025, when BTC peaked near $126,000 — The Block.
• Strategy (MSTR) up ~30%; Bitmine (BMNR) up ~27% this trend — The Block.
• Strategy outperformed BTC by ~10% since Aug 17 — The Block.

The real-world read

This is a single-source item drawn from one outlet's data newsletter, an excerpt at that, so there's nothing to cross-check the $340 billion figure against — take it as The Block's number, not a settled one. Note also The Block's own disclosure: Foresight Ventures is its majority investor, and Bitget is an anchor LP of Foresight.

The framing leans on the DAT sector's own vocabulary — "accretion flywheel," pushing "mNAV to a premium," leverage that "amplify returns." That logic runs both ways: leverage amplifies losses too, and the aggregate cap sitting ~30% below last year's peak despite the recent bounce is the quieter half of the story. The "up 10% since mid-August" headline flatters a cohort still deep underwater from its high. The pitch that productive-asset DATs (staking, validators, mining) are structurally better than bitcoin holders is plausible but is presented as thesis, not demonstrated with the smaller names' actual returns.

Opinion, and whose

The Block frames altcoin DATs as this cycle's outperformers and the productive-asset model as a durable edge over unproductive-asset vehicles like Strategy. That is the newsletter's read, not an established fact.

Not financial advice.