Digital asset treasury companies have quickly become one of the defining crypto trends of 2025. But while investor interest has surged, their long-term survival will depend on how well they manage capital and whether they can build real, revenue-generating businesses alongside their token holdings.
According to Solmate CEO Marco Santori, companies that rely purely on holding crypto assets on their balance sheets face serious risks if market sentiment turns against the tokens they hold.
The rise of digital asset treasury companies
Digital asset treasury companies, often called DATs, typically raise capital through equity markets and deploy that capital into cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ether, or Solana. In theory, this structure allows traditional investors to gain exposure to digital assets without holding the tokens directly.
Santori believes the model has potential, but only under the right conditions. He said the past year has shown how quickly DATs can rise when demand for a particular token is strong, and how vulnerable they become when prices cool or investor interest fades.
“Pure-play” treasury companies, which exist solely to accumulate tokens, are especially exposed to market swings, he warned.
Why mNAV matters so much
At the center of the DAT model is the multiple-to-net-asset value, or mNAV. This metric compares a company’s market capitalization to the value of the crypto assets it holds on its balance sheet.
Santori explained that when a DAT trades at a premium mNAV, it can issue new shares and use the proceeds to buy more of the underlying token. As long as the premium holds, each capital raise increases the company’s net asset value and reinforces the cycle.
“That is how a lot of these treasury companies survive,” Santori said during an appearance on the Chain Reaction X show. “If they can maintain that premium, they can keep growing.”
The problem emerges when enthusiasm for the underlying token weakens. Falling prices shrink the value of the balance sheet, reduce the mNAV premium, and make further capital raises inefficient or impossible. At that point, many treasury companies are forced into a holding pattern.
Santori described this dynamic as an mNAV roller coaster that can leave investors exposed to sharp swings without any operational cushion.
Moving beyond the pure-play treasury model
Solmate’s strategy was shaped by lessons Santori learned earlier in the year while working with DeFi Development Fund’s Solana treasury initiative. While that effort followed a more traditional pure-play approach, Santori said he did not want to repeat the same exposure at Solmate.
His goal, he said, was to give investors access to SOL and the growth of the Solana network without tying their returns entirely to token price volatility.
Instead of functioning solely as a holder of digital assets, Solmate is building an operating business around validator infrastructure and high-performance hardware.
The validator and infrastructure strategy
Solmate is focusing on bare-metal servers, which are single-tenant physical machines dedicated to one user. Unlike virtual servers, bare-metal setups offer maximum performance and low latency, features that are critical for proof-of-stake networks such as Solana and Ethereum.
Santori said running validators is not just about staking tokens. It also requires owning and operating robust hardware to participate meaningfully in governance and network operations.
“We see this as a virtuous cycle,” he said, referring to what Solmate calls its infrastructure flywheel. The company deploys capital into hardware and validators, earns revenue from those services, and reinvests that income into acquiring more SOL.
Within the Solana ecosystem, Santori sees strong demand for high-throughput, low-latency infrastructure. Trading firms and hedge funds are willing to pay premium prices for access to hardware that gives them faster and more reliable connections to exchanges.
By offering co-location services and loading validators with large amounts of SOL, Solmate aims to be selected more frequently as a leader during Solana epochs. That, in turn, allows the company to validate more transactions and generate consistent cash flow.
Expansion through acquisition
In December 2025, Solmate announced the acquisition of RockawayX’s operations. The deal brought validator infrastructure, onchain liquidity businesses, and venture and credit funds under one roof.
Following the acquisition, the combined entity now manages more than $2 billion in assets. Santori said the move strengthens Solmate’s ability to generate revenue independently of token price movements while still maintaining long-term exposure to the Solana ecosystem.
For Santori, the message to the broader DAT sector is clear. Treasury strategies alone may work during strong market cycles, but durability will depend on building businesses that can perform even when token prices do not.
Leave a Reply