Crypto News: Crypto Treasury Firms Could Emerge as “Berkshire Hathaways of Blockchains,” Analyst Says

Key TakeawaysRyan Watkins (Syncracy Capital): Digital Asset Treasury (DAT) firms hold ~$105B in crypto and could become long-term ecosystem operators.DATs may evolve into for-profit counterparts to crypto foundations, deploying capital, funding businesses, and shaping governance.Comparison: Unlike MicroStrategy’s BTC-only strategy, DATs can activate programmable assets like ETH, SOL, HYPE for staking, liquidity, and yield.Watkins warns many speculative first-gen DATs will fade, with only disciplined, well-managed firms enduring.DAT Firms: From Speculation to Long-Term EnginesRyan Watkins, co-founder of Syncracy Capital, argues that digital asset treasury (DAT) firms could become structural giants in crypto, much like Berkshire Hathaway in traditional markets.In a Sept. 23 post, Watkins highlighted that DATs—publicly traded firms that raise capital to buy and hold crypto—now control around $105 billion in assets across Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and other majors.Watkins said most commentary has focused on near-term metrics like fundraising or NAV premiums. But the real potential lies in DATs transforming into long-term operators, actively financing, governing, and building within the ecosystems tied to their token holdings.Beyond Storage: Turning Treasuries into Ecosystem LeversWatkins sees leading DATs evolving into for-profit counterparts to crypto foundations, with broader mandates:Deploying capital into businesses and infrastructure.Operating ecosystem primitives like validators, RPC nodes, and indexers.Participating in governance to shape network direction.He cited Solana RPC providers and Hyperliquid front ends as examples where staking more tokens can directly reduce user costs or improve execution quality, making DAT-held assets productive levers rather than idle vaults.Programmable Assets vs. Bitcoin’s Static Treasury ModelUnlike MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin-only play, Watkins stressed that DATs holding programmable tokens (ETH, SOL, HYPE) can activate treasuries on-chain:Staking to earn fees.Supplying liquidity and lending.Acquiring ecosystem-critical assets.This creates yield-generating balance sheets, blending elements of closed-end funds, REITs, and banks—while compounding returns directly in crypto per share rather than management fees.Survivors Will Look Like Berkshire HathawayWatkins warned that not all DATs will last. First-generation firms reliant on financial engineering, without operational depth, may fail as competition rises and NAV premiums compress.He predicts consolidation, financing experiments, and occasional reckless moves. The long-term winners, however, will be those with disciplined capital allocation and real operating capacity—recycling cash flows into new products, governance roles, and ecosystem expansion.“Over time, the best managed ones could evolve into the Berkshire Hathaways of their blockchains,” Watkins wrote.