On the afternoon of the 10th, President Trump announced 100% tariffs on Chinese goods via Truth Social. This news instantly ignited panic across global financial markets.

In the subsequent 24 hours, the cryptocurrency market experienced its largest liquidation event in history, with over $19 billion in leveraged positions forcibly closed. Bitcoin plummeted from $117,000, briefly falling below $102,000, recording a single-day drop of over 12%.

The US stock market also suffered. At the close on October 10th, the S&P 500 fell 2.71%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 878 points, and the NASDAQ Composite declined 3.58%, all marking their largest single-day losses since April.

However, the hardest-hit sector was Digital Asset Treasury (DAT) companies – those holding crypto assets as treasury reserves.

MicroStrategy, the largest corporate Bitcoin holder, saw its stock price fall significantly. Declines for other crypto treasury companies were even more pronounced. According to after-hours trading data, investors continued selling.

For these companies, exposed to dual risks in both the crypto and stock markets, has the worst passed?

Why Did DAT Companies Fall Harder?

DAT companies first face a direct hit to their balance sheets. Taking MicroStrategy as an example, the company holds approximately 639,835 Bitcoin. A 12% drop in Bitcoin's price implies a nearly $10 billion instantaneous evaporation of its asset value.

This loss must be recorded as an "unrealized loss" under accounting standards. While not a realized loss until sold, the figure on the financial statements is very real.

As an investor, you see a company's core assets rapidly depreciating. This also involves a multiplier effect related to market confidence.

In early 2025, MicroStrategy's stock traded at a premium to its Net Asset Value (NAV) as high as 2x, but this compressed to 1.44x by the end of September; it's now around 1.2x.

For other companies, the market-adjusted NAV (mNAV) is almost universally converging towards 1, with some already falling below 1. These changing numbers reflect a harsh reality: market confidence in the DAT model is shaking during extreme market conditions.

In a bull market, investors were willing to grant these companies a premium, buying into the narrative of being pioneers in crypto innovation. But when the market turns, the same story becomes an unnecessary risk exposure.

Non-Bitcoin cryptocurrencies suffered massive technical damage in this leverage-induced crash, some even instantly crashing to zero. Even large-cap altcoins saw prices halve or more due to illiquidity.

Stocks of companies holding these assets became prime targets for worsening market sentiment.

When panic strikes, investors need to reduce exposure quickly. While the Bitcoin market trades 24/7, selling large amounts significantly impacts the price. In contrast, selling a stock like MSTR on NASDAQ is much easier.

Selling billions worth of gold wouldn't disrupt the market, but selling $70 billion worth of Bitcoin could cause a price collapse and trigger massive liquidations. This liquidity difference makes DAT company stocks a conduit for rapid capital exit.

Worse, many institutional investors have strict risk control limits. When volatility exceeds a certain threshold, they must reduce positions, willingly or not. And DAT companies are among the highest volatility targets.

To use an imperfect analogy: if ordinary tech companies are sailing in one boat, DAT companies are like having two boats tied together – one navigating the stock market, the other struggling in the crypto market.

When both markets encounter stormy weather simultaneously, the impact isn't additive; it's multiplicative.

Who Suffered Most, Who Held Up Best?

Looking at the list of DAT company declines from the previous trading day, a clear pattern emerges: the smaller the company, the harder it fell.

* Forward Industries fell 15.32% (its mNAV is only 0.053).

* BTCS Inc. fell 12.70%.

* Helius Medical Tech fell 12.91%.

These companies with market caps under $100 million found almost no buyers in the panic. In contrast, MicroStrategy, despite being the largest Bitcoin holder, fell only 4.84%.

The logic behind this is simple: liquidity.

When panic strikes, the bid-ask spread for small-cap stocks widens dramatically, and a moderately large sell order can crash the price.

For the relatively larger DAT companies, MicroStrategy's mNAV is only about 1.28x, trading almost at the value of its Bitcoin holdings. The market largely values these companies based on their crypto assets plus a small premium. When the crypto market crashes, they have no other business to cushion the blow.

When a company's market cap almost equals the value of its held crypto assets (mNAV close to 1), it means the market assigns no additional value to the company beyond its coin holdings.

Bitmine's mNAV is 0.98. Other companies without precise mNAV data are likely similarly low. These companies have effectively become crypto ETFs disguised as public companies.

The question is, now that genuine Bitcoin ETFs are available, why would investors choose to hold indirectly through these companies?

This might explain why these low-mNAV companies fell even harder during the panic. They bear the risk of crypto assets and the risk of the stock market, without offering any additional value.

US markets will open again in a few hours. After a weekend cooling-off period, will market sentiment improve? Will the small DAT companies that fell over 10% see continued selling or attract bargain-hunting funds?

Based on the data, companies with mNAV below 1 might be oversold and present opportunities, but they could also be value traps. Ultimately, when a business model itself is questioned, being cheap isn't necessarily a reason to buy.

On the afternoon of the 10th, President Trump announced 100% tariffs on Chinese goods via Truth Social. This news instantly ignited panic across global financial markets.

In the subsequent 24 hours, the cryptocurrency market experienced its largest liquidation event in history, with over $19 billion in leveraged positions forcibly closed. Bitcoin plummeted from $117,000, briefly falling below $102,000, recording a single-day drop of over 12%.

The US stock market also suffered. At the close on October 10th, the S&P 500 fell 2.71%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 878 points, and the NASDAQ Composite declined 3.58%, all marking their largest single-day losses since April.

However, the hardest-hit sector was Digital Asset Treasury (DAT) companies – those holding crypto assets as treasury reserves.

MicroStrategy, the largest corporate Bitcoin holder, saw its stock price fall significantly. Declines for other crypto treasury companies were even more pronounced. According to after-hours trading data, investors continued selling.

For these companies, exposed to dual risks in both the crypto and stock markets, has the worst passed?

Why Did DAT Companies Fall Harder?

DAT companies first face a direct hit to their balance sheets. Taking MicroStrategy as an example, the company holds approximately 639,835 Bitcoin. A 12% drop in Bitcoin's price implies a nearly $10 billion instantaneous evaporation of its asset value.

This loss must be recorded as an "unrealized loss" under accounting standards. While not a realized loss until sold, the figure on the financial statements is very real.

As an investor, you see a company's core assets rapidly depreciating. This also involves a multiplier effect related to market confidence.

In early 2025, MicroStrategy's stock traded at a premium to its Net Asset Value (NAV) as high as 2x, but this compressed to 1.44x by the end of September; it's now around 1.2x.

For other companies, the market-adjusted NAV (mNAV) is almost universally converging towards 1, with some already falling below 1. These changing numbers reflect a harsh reality: market confidence in the DAT model is shaking during extreme market conditions.

In a bull market, investors were willing to grant these companies a premium, buying into the narrative of being pioneers in crypto innovation. But when the market turns, the same story becomes an unnecessary risk exposure.

Non-Bitcoin cryptocurrencies suffered massive technical damage in this leverage-induced crash, some even instantly crashing to zero. Even large-cap altcoins saw prices halve or more due to illiquidity.

Stocks of companies holding these assets became prime targets for worsening market sentiment.

When panic strikes, investors need to reduce exposure quickly. While the Bitcoin market trades 24/7, selling large amounts significantly impacts the price. In contrast, selling a stock like MSTR on NASDAQ is much easier.

Selling billions worth of gold wouldn't disrupt the market, but selling $70 billion worth of Bitcoin could cause a price collapse and trigger massive liquidations. This liquidity difference makes DAT company stocks a conduit for rapid capital exit.

Worse, many institutional investors have strict risk control limits. When volatility exceeds a certain threshold, they must reduce positions, willingly or not. And DAT companies are among the highest volatility targets.

To use an imperfect analogy: if ordinary tech companies are sailing in one boat, DAT companies are like having two boats tied together – one navigating the stock market, the other struggling in the crypto market.

When both markets encounter stormy weather simultaneously, the impact isn't additive; it's multiplicative.

Who Suffered Most, Who Held Up Best?

Looking at the list of DAT company declines from the previous trading day, a clear pattern emerges: the smaller the company, the harder it fell.

* Forward Industries fell 15.32% (its mNAV is only 0.053).

* BTCS Inc. fell 12.70%.

* Helius Medical Tech fell 12.91%.

These companies with market caps under $100 million found almost no buyers in the panic. In contrast, MicroStrategy, despite being the largest Bitcoin holder, fell only 4.84%.

The logic behind this is simple: liquidity.

When panic strikes, the bid-ask spread for small-cap stocks widens dramatically, and a moderately large sell order can crash the price.

For the relatively larger DAT companies, MicroStrategy's mNAV is only about 1.28x, trading almost at the value of its Bitcoin holdings. The market largely values these companies based on their crypto assets plus a small premium. When the crypto market crashes, they have no other business to cushion the blow.

When a company's market cap almost equals the value of its held crypto assets (mNAV close to 1), it means the market assigns no additional value to the company beyond its coin holdings.

Bitmine's mNAV is 0.98. Other companies without precise mNAV data are likely similarly low. These companies have effectively become crypto ETFs disguised as public companies.

The question is, now that genuine Bitcoin ETFs are available, why would investors choose to hold indirectly through these companies?

This might explain why these low-mNAV companies fell even harder during the panic. They bear the risk of crypto assets and the risk of the stock market, without offering any additional value.

US markets will open again in a few hours. After a weekend cooling-off period, will market sentiment improve? Will the small DAT companies that fell over 10% see continued selling or attract bargain-hunting funds?

Based on the data, companies with mNAV below 1 might be oversold and present opportunities, but they could also be value traps. Ultimately, when a business model itself is questioned, being cheap isn't necessarily a reason to buy.