Behind the public company's encryption reserve strategy, which encryption VCs are making a strong push?

Author: Zen, PANews

In recent years, an increasing number of publicly traded companies have incorporated encryption assets into their balance sheets, from MicroStrategy being the first to 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 on a small scale. According to BitcoinTreasuries, as of July 17, 154 publicly traded companies have adopted Bitcoin as a strategic reserve; additionally, a research report released by DWF Labs at the end of June this year pointed out that publicly traded companies have cumulatively invested as much as $76 billion in encryption assets.

In addition to the cryptocurrency-friendly policies of the Trump administration and the demonstration effect of MicroStrategy, there is also a wave of cryptocurrency venture capital and Web3 funds focused on institutional-level digital asset layouts supporting this trend behind the scenes. They provide comprehensive solutions for listed companies through leading PIPE (Private Investment in Public Equity), convertible bonds, reverse mergers, etc., including cryptocurrency purchases, tokenized equity, stablecoin settlements, and on-chain treasury management.

The main institutions driving the encryption of listed companies have expanded from the early Pantera Capital, Animoca Brands, Sora Ventures, to include DWF Labs, Big Brain Holdings, GSR, Bain Capital Crypto, and recently, more and more encryption VCs have started to join this ranks.

Pantera Capital

Pantera has invested in multiple DAT (Digital Asset Treasury) companies, the most notable of which is the financial services company Twenty One Capital, led by long-time Bitcoin evangelist Jack Mallers (Nasdaq ticker: CEP). Pantera is also the institution that invested the most in its PIPE financing round. Twenty One is trying to emulate MSTR's strategy and has the support of three industry giants: Tether, SoftBank, and Cantor Fitzgerald. Pantera pointed out that Twenty One's scale is just right to utilize all capital market tools, while its market capitalization is relatively small, allowing it to achieve BPS growth at a faster rate than MSTR and trade at a higher premium.

In addition, Pantera also led the investment in DeFi Development Corp (NASDAQ: DFDV, formerly Janover), which has sparked the trend of DAT in the United States. DFDV is led by CEO Joseph Onorati and CIO Parker White, and is drawing on the strategies of MSTR but applying them to Solana. Pantera believes that Solana is an interesting alternative to BTC for several reasons: its potential for growth may be greater than BTC due to its shorter maturity period; it has higher volatility than BTC, which means that this volatility can be exploited for higher returns; its staking yield can contribute to the growth of each SOL share; and due to the limited alternatives currently available, Solana has more untapped demand.

In addition to supporting publicly traded companies holding Bitcoin and Sol treasury, Pantera has also invested in the first Ethereum digital asset financial company in the U.S., Sharplink Gaming (SBET). SBET is led by the software company Consensys, founded by Ethereum co-founder Joe Lubin, which launched the ETH treasury strategy; Pantera has collaborated with its team for over ten years.

Galaxy Digital

In May 2025, Trump Media announced it would raise approximately $2.5 billion for the construction of a Bitcoin treasury by issuing $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 for the company and committing to provide liquidity support.

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

Animoca Brands

In July 2025, Animoca announced the signing of a non-binding memorandum of understanding with the food and packaging company DayDayCook (DDC. According to a joint statement released by both parties, Animoca will invest up to $100 million in Bitcoin into DDC's Bitcoin treasury revenue strategy. Animoca's co-founder Yat Siu will also join DDC's Bitcoin Visionary Council to provide strategic guidance for its treasury management and revenue optimization. DDC Enterprise announced its Bitcoin fund reserve plan in May of this year, aiming to purchase 5,000 Bitcoins over three years, and purchased 21 Bitcoins for its corporate fund reserves that month.

In addition, as a well-known investor in the Web3 industry that has risen amid the NFT craze, Animoca is also seeking opportunities for a public listing in the United States. According to the Financial Times, Yat Siu stated that Animoca is planning to go public in New York, striving to seize the "unique opportunity" provided by the Trump administration's regulatory approach to digital assets. With the decline of NFT and GameFi projects, in addition to investments, Animoca Brands' latest financial report also shows that it is transforming towards consulting services, covering token consulting, token economics, marketing, listing consulting, node operation, 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 publicly listed companies in Asia. The fund will focus on listed companies in markets such as Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Taiwan, and South Korea. The first beneficiary case is Metaplanet, a company 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 of this year, Sora Ventures entered the public market and renamed itself AsiaStrateg through a strategic merger with Hong Kong luxury goods distributor Top Win International, which is listed on NASDAQ. This merger allows Top Win to gain Sora's expertise in Bitcoin, as the latter will participate in Top Win's investment and treasury management. Top Win has announced that it will adopt a Bitcoin reserve strategy and plans to use $150 million to support Bitcoin treasury projects for at least ten listed companies in the Asian market.

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

) DWF Labs

In June 2025, Interactive Strength (Nasdaq: TRNR), a fitness equipment and digital fitness services company, announced the signing of a financing framework for a "FET Token Treasury" with a total scale of up to $500 million, with an initial investment of $55 million jointly from ATW Partners and DWF Labs. The funds will be specifically 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 implemented, it is expected to have the largest publicly listed crypto asset portfolio focused on AI tokens. According to a research article released by DWF Labs, it will continue to explore new opportunities to build similar trades in the U.S. stock market.

Primitive Ventures

According to a write-up by Primitive Ventures, starting in early 2025, the agency began to focus on "digital asset reserve PIPE" as a key research direction, systematically screening and participating in various representative trades, using capital to support publicly listed companies that have Ethereum-based encryption assets as their core reserve strategy. Primitive Ventures also participated in the $425 million private equity financing announced by SharpLink Gaming in May this year. Primitive believes that BTC-based strategies primarily rely on financing to purchase coins, which do not generate self-produced asset income, thus posing higher leverage risks. In contrast, SBET has the potential to directly utilize ETH's staking returns and the DeFi ecosystem to achieve compound growth on-chain, creating real value for shareholders.

Big Brain Holdings

The American encryption venture capital fund Big Brain Holdings has recently become an important supporter of the consumer goods development, manufacturing, and distribution company Upexi (NASDAQ: UPXI). In July 2025, Upexi announced a convertible bond issuance worth $150 million, 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 leading investor in this note financing. After the financing is completed, Upexi is expected to hold approximately 1.65 million SOL, significantly increasing the company's on-chain treasury size compared to the previously disclosed 735,000 Solana.

GSR

Upexi's expansion into the cryptocurrency space can be traced back at least three months ago — in April 2025, GSR led a $100 million private investment in public equity (PIPE) for Upexi, with the 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 the transaction, Upexi's stock price surged by approximately 700%, highlighting the market's enthusiastic response to the company's digital asset strategy. GSR stated that this transaction reflects the growing demand from traditional capital for high-quality crypto assets. 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 placement financing for SharpLink Gaming led by Consensys, many well-known encryption VCs also participated in the investment.

In addition, multiple encryption venture capital firms participated in ProCap Financial's "largest initial financing in the history of listed Bitcoin financial reserve companies." ProCap Financial was formed by 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, which will focus on purchasing Bitcoin and developing profitable financial products based on the holdings.

According to public information, in three major private placements:

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