Former 'money printer': The financial flywheel of 'financing - buying coins'
What is a DAT company? Simply put, it is a group of publicly traded companies that have 'buying Bitcoin' as their core strategy.
The core of this model is a clever design known as the 'capital flywheel.' Its operational logic is simple and brutal yet exceptionally effective:
Financing: The company raises a large amount of fiat currency by issuing stocks or convertible bonds in the capital market.
Buying coins: The money raised is unhesitatingly投入加密市场, making large purchases of Bitcoin.
Driving up stock prices: Massive institutional buying has not only driven up Bitcoin prices but also ignited enthusiasm in the capital markets. Investors view these companies as 'proxy stocks for Bitcoin,' and their stock prices often carry a high premium, with increases that can even surpass Bitcoin itself.
Cycle: Higher stock prices mean stronger financing capability, enabling the company to easily issue new shares at higher prices, raise more money, and then... continue to buy coins.
In that era of rapid progress, Strategy was the most devout believer and largest beneficiary of this model.
A financial report that pierces the 'Emperor's New Clothes'.
On February 5, 2026, Strategy released its fourth quarter financial report for 2025. This report was like a basin of icy water, waking up all those immersed in fantasy. The data showed that in just one quarter, Strategy's net loss reached an astonishing $12.4 billion!
According to the latest accounting standards, the digital assets held by the company need to be valued at fair value. The plummet in Bitcoin prices directly translates to shocking impairment losses on the books.
As of the end of 2025, Strategy held a total of 713,502 Bitcoins, with an average holding cost of $76,052 per coin. This means that on the books, all the Bitcoins held by Strategy have already entered an overall state of floating losses, with the total floating loss exceeding $10 billion.
The flywheel reverses: From 'engine' to 'meat grinder' death spiral.
This negative feedback loop is the mirror inversion of the bull market flywheel:
Coin price drops -> Stock price plummets: Market confidence collapses, the previous high premium vanishes instantly, the drop in stock prices far exceeds that of Bitcoin, and investors begin to panic sell.
Stock prices plummet -> Financing exhausted: No one is willing to take over the stock or bonds of a company whose core assets are constantly shrinking at this time.
Financing exhaustion -> Selling pressure: When debts are due, or cash is needed to cover operating costs, where will it get the money? In the absence of financing options, the only choice seems to be—selling the held Bitcoins.
Selling pressure -> Intensified decline: As one of the largest 'whales' in the market, even just signaling a possible sale from Strategy can trigger significant panic in the market. The company acknowledged in its risk disclosure back in April 2025 that it might be forced to sell Bitcoin to meet financial obligations in extreme circumstances.
This is a perfect negative feedback loop: Coin price drops → Huge losses → Stock price crash → Financing interruption → Emergence of selling pressure → Market panic intensifies → Coin price further declines.
The dilemma of Strategy represents a microcosm of all DAT companies. They amplified gains in a bull market and will inevitably exacerbate crashes in a bear market. This strategy of deeply tying a company's fate to a single highly volatile asset is essentially an unprecedented gamble.
