Crypto treasury firms pivot to AI as DAT model loses momentum

More than a dozen digital asset treasury companies have moved into artificial intelligence and data centres as falling crypto prices weaken demand for the DAT model.

Bloomberg reported that the shifts have not stopped steep share declines.

K Wave Media has fallen about 71% since its May pivot. Lixte Biotechnology and Alpha Compute have each dropped roughly 33% since announcing their own changes. The figures measure performance after the pivots and do not prove causation.

Digital asset treasury premiums shrink

Digital asset treasury companies use public equity, debt or private placements to buy crypto. The model works best when investors value the company above its token holdings. That premium lets management issue shares and buy more assets.

The structure becomes harder to maintain when crypto prices fall or the stock trades near or below net asset value. New share sales become less attractive, while debt costs remain. VanEck said in January that several DATs faced net asset value discounts, increasing pressure for consolidation and new strategies.

A Bloomberg-syndicated report quoted Renno & Co managing partner Toufic Adlouni as saying the “vast majority are trying to switch gears or are dead or dying.” That is one adviser’s assessment, not a formal count. Still, the pivots show that several boards no longer view crypto accumulation alone as enough.

K Wave abandons its Bitcoin plan

K Wave announced on May 4 that it could redirect up to $485 million from a Bitcoin treasury agreement into data centres, GPU rental operations and AI acquisitions. The plan also included selling its legacy unit and removing about $48 million in debt and related liabilities.

The stock fell almost 25% on the first trading day after the announcement, as crypto.news previously reported. Bloomberg later placed the decline at about 71% from the May reboot. K Wave then sold its remaining 88 BTC to repay $6 million of debt, ending a campaign that once targeted 10,000 BTC.

K Wave said the transformation would build a scalable platform across data centres and computing. That claim remains forward-looking. The company has not yet shown that the new business can replace the investor interest once attached to its Bitcoin plan.

Lixte and Alpha Compute choose new businesses

Lixte entered the DAT market in 2025 by buying 10.5 BTC and 300 ETH for about $2.6 million. The company said crypto represented roughly 43.6% of its treasury and authorised an allocation of up to 50%.

In June 2026, Lixte agreed to acquire NOMAD Transportable Power Systems and said it planned to become NOMAD Power Solutions. The proposed business would provide mobile battery storage for data centres facing grid delays. Bloomberg reported that Lixte shares fell about 33% after the announcement.

AlphaTON Capital launched a Toncoin treasury strategy in September 2025, targeting about $100 million in TON and Telegram infrastructure. It rebranded as Alpha Compute in April 2026 and shifted toward GPU services, confidential computing and AI infrastructure.

Bloomberg said Alpha Compute shares have fallen about 33% since the rebrand. The company has reported AI contracts and acquisitions, but a new sector label has not restored its treasury premium.

AI offers revenue but demands more capital

AI data centres can produce revenue through computing contracts, hosting and power supply. That differs from a treasury model that relies mainly on asset appreciation and capital-market access. Crypto miners have also moved toward AI because they already control power connections, buildings and cooling equipment.

However, AI infrastructure requires heavy upfront spending, electricity, specialised chips and long customer contracts. Companies that struggled to fund crypto purchases may face similar limits. Battery systems, space projects and small modular reactors also involve long development periods and regulatory risk.

Related crypto.news coverage found that the treasury-company group has shifted from accumulation toward selective asset sales. K Wave exited Bitcoin, while Empery Digital sold part of its holdings to fund an AI data-centre strategy. Some treasury stocks traded at or below their crypto asset value as investors stopped paying large premiums for the corporate structure.

The pivots do not mean every DAT will leave crypto. Larger companies may continue raising capital and holding tokens. For smaller firms, AI offers an operating-revenue story. Early share-price results show that markets still want evidence of funding, customers and execution before rewarding the change.