Shareholders Challenge Pay at Crypto Treasury Firms

What is driving the scrutiny

Investors who chased last year's crypto run are now licking their wounds and speaking up. Retail and institutional holders are leaning into activism at companies built around stockpiling tokens after losses swelled to about $50 billion.

These firms, often called digital-asset treasuries, keep Bitcoin and Ether as core holdings. Artemis puts the combined fully diluted value of listed players focused on those two coins at roughly $90 billion, around 40% under the high. The tally leaves out companies dedicated to smaller tokens.

The slump tracks the broader market. Bitcoin is about 40% off its record above $126,000 set on Oct. 6, slid hard in the days after, and hasn't recovered. It was near $76,400 Friday in Asia. No surprise that many of these stocks trade well below the value of the coins they hold.

Ben Schiffrin, Better Markets' director of securities policy, said, "Executives whose strategy is to invest in risky cryptoassets with no real utility should not be rewarded when that strategy inevitably fails."

SkyAI's turmoil and takeover fight

SkyAI Inc., previously Sharps Technology, raised more than $400 million from major crypto funds last year to pivot into a Solana treasury vehicle targeting the seventh-largest cryptocurrency. Since that deal closed in August 2025, the shares have fallen nearly 90%.