Pantera Capital Bets Big on Public Firms with Crypto-Heavy Balance Sheets
Pantera Capital is doubling down on a new wave of publicly traded companies that are loading up on digital assets like Bitcoin (BTC), Solana (SOL), and Ethereum (ETH), according to a Thursday investor note from general partner Cosmo Jiang.
The crypto investment firm disclosed stakes in several Nasdaq-listed firms that Pantera believes represent a novel gateway into digital assets for traditional equity investors. Among the highlighted investments is Twenty One Capital (CEP), a Bitcoin-centric treasury outfit led by Jack Mallers and backed by notable players including Tether, SoftBank, and Cantor Fitzgerald.
Pantera also revealed early positions in DeFi Development Corp (DFDV), which takes a similar treasury model but applies it to Solana, and Sharplink Gaming (SBET), an Ethereum-focused play backed by Ethereum software developer ConsenSys.
These companies, dubbed Digital Asset Treasury (DAT) firms by Pantera, represent an emerging class of vehicles that allow stock market participants to gain indirect exposure to cryptocurrencies—without handling tokens or private keys. It’s a strategy popularized by Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy (MSTR), which has turned its balance sheet into a Bitcoin proxy.
Jiang noted that these firms act like publicly traded closed-end funds, potentially reducing circulating supply of their underlying assets and subtly influencing token prices. “They enable access without the friction,” he wrote.
Pantera believes that with proper strategy and market timing, these companies can even outperform the tokens they hold. “Token-per-share metrics can outpace token appreciation,” Jiang argued, suggesting higher upside potential compared to direct crypto investment.
Still, the growing field has drawn scrutiny. Analysts at 10x Research recently pointed out that MSTR underperformed even as Bitcoin hit new all-time highs, raising questions about how much room remains for similar plays in a saturated space.
