Cryptocurrency company stocks collapsed in 2025 — the average losses were 43%, and some issuers lost almost all their value. According to Bloomberg, public companies in the US and Canada that hold cryptocurrencies on their balance sheets are experiencing one of the worst periods in history.
From takeoff to collapse in a few months
SharpLink Gaming became a symbol of speculative madness. The announcement of the purchase of Ethereum raised shares by 2,600% in just a few days, but the euphoria quickly turned into panic — shares collapsed by 86% from the peak. Now, the market capitalization is only 90% of the value of Ethereum in the company's treasury.
Greenlane Holdings suffered even more. The company held BERA tokens worth $48 million, but after the token itself fell by 90%, shares lost over 99% of their value.
Even connections with the Trumps did not help.
Alt5 Sigma Corp received support from the Trump sons and invested over $1 billion in WLFI tokens. Eric Trump publicly called the deal a "giant step for WLFI," but it did not prevent the crash — shares fell by 86% from the June peak.
Paradoxically, the announcement of the cryptocurrency strategy caused Alt5 Sigma's shares to drop by a quarter on the same day that Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump praised the partnership with social network X.
Losses in the tens of billions.
The scale of destruction is impressive. The total market capitalization of public companies with crypto assets has shrunk from $176 billion in July to $99 billion now. Over five months, the sector lost $77 billion.
The value of cryptocurrencies in corporate reserves has also declined — from $141 billion in October to $104 billion by the end of November. Even bitcoin at historical highs did not save the situation.
Strategy is losing billions.
The flagship of the sector, Strategy, owns 660,624 bitcoins, but the portfolio's value fell from $79 billion to $58 billion. The company's shares have dropped by a third in a month.
JPMorgan warns of a multi-billion dollar capital outflow if major indexes exclude Strategy from their portfolios. Such a scenario is becoming increasingly likely.
What is the reason for the failure?
Investors finally understood the main problem of the business model: cryptocurrencies on the balance sheet do not generate income. Companies take loans at interest to buy bitcoin or altcoins, which simply sit as dead weight and do not generate cash flows.
Institutional interest has sharply cooled. Weekly capital inflows into companies with digital assets collapsed from a peak of $4.2 billion in June to a meager $8 million in recent weeks.
Altcoins turned out to be a trap.
A quarter of the companies holding bitcoin are now trading below the value of their crypto assets. But holders of altcoins suffered much more — their losses are measured in tens of percent.
Analysts predict that 70% of companies with digital assets will close the year 2025 in the red zone compared to January quotes.
The collapse of the sector showed that the strategy of simply accumulating cryptocurrencies does not work in public companies. Those issuers who failed to create a real business around digital assets became hostages to market volatility. Investors are no longer willing to overpay for indirect access to cryptocurrencies through stocks — they prefer to buy bitcoin directly through ETFs.
