The surge of crypto reserves in listed companies: A deep dive into the behind-the-scenes crypto VCs

2025-07-19 12:37:49

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An increasing number of listed companies are starting to incorporate crypto assets into their balance sheets, with 154 companies adopting Bitcoin as a strategic reserve, accumulating a total investment in crypto assets of up to $76 billion.

Original Title: "What Crypto VCs Are Making Moves Behind the Crypto Reserve Strategies of Public Companies?"

Original Author: Zen, PANews

In recent years, an increasing number of public companies have incorporated crypto assets into their balance sheets, from MicroStrategy's pioneering bet on Bitcoin to Trump Media & Technology Group raising $2.5 billion to build a Bitcoin treasury, and several traditional industrial and tech giants experimenting with stablecoins or Ethereum as strategic reserves. According to BitcoinTreasuries, as of July 17, 154 public companies have adopted Bitcoin as a strategic reserve; additionally, a research report released by DWF Labs at the end of June this year indicated that public companies have cumulatively invested up to $76 billion in crypto assets.

In addition to the crypto-friendly policies of the Trump administration and the demonstration effect of MicroStrategy, there are also crypto VCs and Web3 funds focused on institutional-level digital asset strategies supporting this wave. They provide comprehensive solutions for public companies through leading PIPE (Private Investment in Public Equity), convertible bonds, reverse mergers, and other means, offering cryptocurrency purchases, tokenized equity, stablecoin settlements, and on-chain treasury management.

The main institutions driving the cryptoization of public companies have expanded from early players like Pantera Capital, Animoca Brands, and Sora Ventures to include DWF Labs, Big Brain Holdings, GSR, Bain Capital Crypto, among others, with an increasing number of crypto VCs joining this trend recently.

Pantera Capital

Pantera has invested in several DAT (Digital Asset Treasury) companies, the most notable being the financial services company Twenty One Capital (NASDAQ: CEP), led by long-time Bitcoin evangelist Jack Mallers. Pantera is also the institution that invested the most in its PIPE financing round. Twenty One is attempting to emulate MSTR's strategy and has received support from three industry giants: Tether, SoftBank, and Cantor Fitzgerald. Pantera points out that Twenty One's scale is just right to utilize all capital market tools, while its market cap is small enough to achieve BPS growth faster than MSTR and trade at a higher premium.

Additionally, Pantera led the investment in DeFi Development Corp (NASDAQ: DFDV, formerly Janover), which has sparked a DAT trend in the U.S. DFDV, led by CEO Joseph Onorati and CIO Parker White, is borrowing MSTR's strategy but applying it to Solana. Pantera believes Solana is an interesting alternative to BTC for several reasons: its shorter maturity period may provide greater upside than BTC; its volatility is higher than BTC, meaning this volatility can be leveraged for higher returns; its staking yields can promote the growth of each SOL; and due to the limited available alternatives, Solana has more untapped demand.

In addition to supporting public companies holding Bitcoin and Solana treasuries, Pantera has also invested in Sharplink Gaming (SBET), the first Ethereum digital asset financial company in the U.S. SBET, led by Ethereum co-founder Joe Lubin's software company Consensys, has launched an ETH treasury strategy, and Pantera has collaborated with its team for over a decade.

Galaxy Digital

In May 2025, Trump Media announced it would raise approximately $2.5 billion for Bitcoin treasury construction through the issuance of $1.5 billion in common stock and $1 billion in convertible bonds. Galaxy Digital not only served as the financial advisor for this debt and equity financing but was also one of the lead underwriters, designing the financing structure and committing to provide liquidity support.

Previously, Galaxy Digital had assisted non-crypto-native companies like GameStop and AMC in conducting crypto payment and treasury experiments, and acted as an advisor in several SPAC mergers, promoting target companies to incorporate digital assets into their strategic asset allocations. Between 2024 and 2025, Galaxy participated in over $800 million in crypto-related financing for public companies, covering equity investments, debt financing, and advisory services.

Animoca Brands

In July 2025, Animoca announced it had signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) with food and packaging company DayDayCook (DDC) to invest up to $100 million in Bitcoin treasury yield strategies. Animoca co-founder Yat Siu will also join DDC's "Bitcoin Visionary Council" to provide strategic guidance for its treasury management and yield optimization. DDC Enterprise announced its Bitcoin funding reserve plan in May this year, aiming to purchase 5,000 Bitcoins within three years and acquired 21 Bitcoins for its corporate funding reserve that month.

Additionally, as a well-known investor in the Web3 industry that has risen during the NFT boom, Animoca is also seeking opportunities for a U.S. IPO. According to the Financial Times, Yat Siu stated that Animoca is planning to go public in New York, aiming to seize the "unique opportunity" presented by the Trump administration's digital asset regulatory approach. With the decline of NFT and GameFi projects, in addition to investments, Animoca Brands' latest financial report also shows it is transitioning to consulting services, covering token consulting, token economics, marketing, IPO consulting, node operations, and trading services.

Sora Ventures

In December 2024, Sora Ventures announced the launch of a $150 million fund aimed at replicating the MicroStrategy-style Bitcoin treasury management model for Asian public companies. The fund will focus on public companies in markets such as Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Taiwan, and South Korea. The first beneficiary case is Metaplanet, listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, which saw its stock price soar over 1000% in 2024, becoming the best-performing stock on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

In May this year, Sora Ventures entered the public market through a strategic merger with Hong Kong luxury goods distributor Top Win International, which is listed on NASDAQ, and rebranded as AsiaStrateg. This merger allowed TopWin to gain Sora's Bitcoin expertise, which will participate in TopWin's investment and treasury management. TopWin has announced plans to adopt a Bitcoin reserve strategy and intends to allocate $150 million to support Bitcoin treasury projects for at least ten public companies in the Asian market.

Recently, a Bitcoin investor alliance, including Sora Ventures, AsiaStrategy, Metaplanet CEO Simon Gerovich, and South Korean investment firm KCGI, raised approximately $25 million by issuing about 58,862,249 new shares to Korean KOSDAQ-listed software service provider SGA. SGA plans to use the new capital to support its daily operations and develop new business plans in the digital asset space.

DWF Labs

In June 2025, fitness equipment and digital fitness service company Interactive Strength (Nasdaq: TRNR) announced it had signed a financing framework for a "FET Token Treasury" totaling up to $500 million, with the first $55 million jointly invested by ATW Partners and DWF Labs. The funds will be exclusively used to purchase Fetch.ai's FET tokens through the BitGo platform as on-chain allocated assets in its balance sheet. TRNR stated that if the plan is fully realized, it is expected to have the largest publicly listed crypto asset library focused on AI tokens. According to a research article released by DWF Labs, it will continue to explore new opportunities to build similar transactions in the U.S. stock market.

Primitive Ventures

According to Primitive Ventures, since the beginning of 2025, the institution has begun to focus on "digital asset reserve PIPE" as a key research direction, systematically screening and participating in various representative transactions to support public companies that have Ethereum-based crypto assets as their core reserve strategy. Primitive Ventures also participated in SharpLink Gaming's announcement of completing a $425 million private equity financing in May this year. Primitive believes that BTC-based strategies primarily rely on financing to purchase coins, lacking self-generated asset yields and carrying higher leverage risks. In contrast, SBET has the potential to directly utilize ETH's staking yields and DeFi ecosystem to achieve compound growth on-chain, creating real value for shareholders.

Big Brain Holdings

The U.S. crypto venture capital fund Big Brain Holdings has recently become a significant supporter of consumer goods development, manufacturing, and distribution company Upexi (NASDAQ: UPXI). In July 2025, Upexi announced a $150 million convertible bond issuance, with the issuer using locked Solana (SOL) tokens as collateral, a coupon rate of 2%, and a term of 24 months. Big Brain Holdings is the lead investor in this note financing. After the financing is completed, Upexi expects to hold approximately 1.65 million SOL, significantly increasing its previously disclosed 735,000 Solana and greatly enhancing the company's on-chain treasury scale.

GSR

Upexi's expansion into the cryptocurrency space can be traced back at least three months to April 2025, when GSR led a $100 million private placement (PIPE) for Upexi, with funds used to purchase and stake Solana tokens. This move helped Upexi establish a Solana-centric crypto treasury. Public reports indicate that after the announcement of this transaction, Upexi's stock price surged by about 700%, highlighting the market's enthusiastic response to corporate digital asset strategies. GSR stated that this transaction reflects the growing demand for high-quality crypto assets from traditional capital. Additionally, GSR also participated in SharpLink's $425 million private financing.

Other Participants

In the $100 million private placement led by GSR for Upexi and the $425 million private financing for SharpLink Gaming led by Consensys, many well-known crypto VCs also participated.

Moreover, several crypto venture capital firms were involved in the largest initial financing in the history of ProCap Financial, a public Bitcoin financial reserve company. ProCap Financial was formed from the merger of former Morgan Creek partner Anthony Pompliano's private company ProCap BTC and NASDAQ SPAC Columbus Circle Capital. Pompliano also announced the completion of $750 million in financing, focusing on acquiring Bitcoin and developing profitable financial products based on its holdings.

According to public information, in the three major private placements:

Institutions participating in both SharpLink Gaming and Upexi private placements include: GSR, White Star Capital, Hivemind Capital
Institutions participating in both SharpLink Gaming and ProCap Financial include: ParaFi Capital, Arrington Capital
Institutions participating only in Upexi's private placement include: Big Brain Holdings, Anagram, Delphi Ventures, Maelstrom, Arthur Hayes family office, Borderless, Morgan Creek, Elune Capital, Delta Blockchain Fund
Institutions participating only in ProCap Financial's private placement include: Magnetar Capital, Woodline Partners LP, Anson Funds, RK Capital, Off the Chain Capital, Blockchain.com, BSQ Capital Partners, FalconX
Institutions participating only in SharpLink Gaming's private placement include: Electric Capital, Pantera Capital, Galaxy Digital, Hypersphere, Primitive Ventures, Republic Digital

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