Bitcoin-Heavy Balance Sheets Are Risky Bet for Treasurers and CFOs

Back in 2021, PYMNTS Intelligence examined cryptocurrency as corporates mulled how the digital holdings might transform their operations.

More than half of multinational enterprises were already using at least one type of crypto for nascent payment purposes and often as an investment vehicle. However, only about 10% of financial institutions offered crypto-related services.

Fast forward to today, and the landscape has changed. Bitcoin now trades at north of $100,000, other cryptos have surged, and the President Donald Trump administration has been paving the way for a broad range of crypto-related banking services, including custody of those digital holdings.

The strategy of loading cryptos onto balance sheets—call it treasury on steroids—has had a salubrious effect for several publicly traded companies. When crypto prices are ascendant, the value of the assets side of the balance sheet swells. The reverse is true, too, when the mark-to-market occurs as crypto prices swoon.

So-called “bitcoin hoarders” have seen shares of the likes of Strategy slip as the field of firms deploying these balance sheet strategies has become a crowded one, the Financial Times reported Wednesday (Sept. 10).

“Many groups’ share prices soared to well above the value of the tokens they held, in a sign of investors’ belief in this business model,” the report said.

Strategy, formerly known as MicroStrategy, has more than 638,000 bitcoin in its coffers, per documents filed this month with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company bought 1,955 bitcoin between Sept. 2 and Sept. 7, spending $217 million to do so, at an average price of more than $111,000. All told, the company has spent about $47.2 billion to acquire that cumulative stake.

Many chief financial officers and treasurers see crypto as a dual-purpose asset, parking excess capital in bitcoin to hedge against inflation while turning their treasury departments into miniature equity engines.

Strategy is hardly alone in the endeavor. Some companies have elevated digital assets from experimental holdings to core balance-sheet strategies.

As for some of the other firms embracing crypto as a key component of liquidity, in its latest quarterly filing and in company announcements, Trump Media reported approximately $2 billion in bitcoin and bitcoin-related securities, representing two-thirds of its $3 billion liquid assets.

In a July SEC filing, Twenty One Capital revealed it expects to hold at least 43,500 BTC, an increase of about 5,800 BTC, ahead of its anticipated stock market listing.

To get a bird’s eye view of the exposure, consider the fact that data from Bitbo shows that public companies account for approximately 4.59% of total bitcoin supply, valued at more than $109 billion; private firms account for another $48 billion.

These corporate moves illustrate how treasury teams are now acting like equity departments, deploying cash and issuing shares or preferred stock to raise capital for purchasing crypto. In effect, they are transforming traditional cash management into direct exposure to digital asset gains and losses.

However, this strategy injects volatility directly into corporate valuations. A 2025 academic study from economists based in the United Kingdom analyzed 39 BTC-holding public firms. It found that between corporate equities and bitcoin returns, some firms exceeded a beta of 1, meaning stock returns were more volatile than bitcoin itself. The data underscores that crypto-rich treasuries expose shareholder value to crypto’s wild swings. The logic follows that firms with relatively larger crypto positions are more exposed to volatility.

For most of modern corporate finance, treasurers have relied on highly liquid, low-risk instruments to manage surplus cash. These include U.S. Treasury bills, commercial paper and high-grade corporate bonds, all designed to preserve capital and provide predictable returns. Throughout 2025, the yield on three-month U.S. Treasuries has been roughly 4%, offering CFOs a risk-free benchmark with daily liquidity.

By contrast, Bitcoin and Ethereum offer no guaranteed yield and expose holders to double-digit percentage swings within weeks.

The difference plays out in valuation risk. When companies hold Treasuries, mark-to-market adjustments are minimal; a 50-basis-point move in yields translates into small price changes. But when companies hold bitcoin, a 15% swing can wipe hundreds of millions off book value in hours.

Traditional treasury instruments preserve liquidity and creditworthiness, while crypto introduces equity-like volatility into the balance sheet. For some firms, that’s a risk worth taking to position themselves as forward-looking innovators. For others, it’s a destabilizer that at least has the possibility of introducing headwinds to predictable cash management.

The post Bitcoin-Heavy Balance Sheets Are Risky Bet for Treasurers and CFOs appeared first on PYMNTS.com.