The survival of company crypto treasuries depends upon governance and self-discipline, based on HashKey Capital CEO Deng Chao.
In an interview with Cointelegraph, Chao argued that digital asset treasuries (DATs) are sustainable long-term, however “with an vital caveat.” People who lack threat frameworks, diversify poorly or deal with digital belongings like speculative bets are likely to collapse in risky cycles.
“Resilience comes from self-discipline,” he mentioned. “Digital belongings themselves are usually not inherently unsustainable; it’s how they’re managed that makes the distinction.”
The remarks come simply weeks after HashKey launched its $500 million DAT fund in Hong Kong. The fund targets Bitcoin- and Ethereum-based company treasuries and will actively deploy capital throughout onchain infrastructure, custody and ecosystem companies.
The fund is designed to serve establishments and firms looking for operational use of digital belongings. “Not solely holding them but additionally benefiting from the expansion of the underlying infrastructure,” he mentioned.
DATs vs. ETFs: totally different instruments, totally different targets
Chao drew a distinction between DATs and ETFs, saying “we don’t see them as opponents a lot as complementary autos.” ETFs provide easy publicity for mainstream traders, whereas DATs are constructed for treasuries that need to embed crypto into long-term operations.
In response to SoSoValue information, spot Bitcoin ETFs maintain a mixed $152.31 billion in belongings, representing 6.63% of Bitcoin’s whole market capitalization. In distinction, public corporations maintain 1,111,225 Bitcoin (BTC) on their stability sheets, price $128 billion, based on BitcoinTreasuries.NET.
Many company treasuries, Chao famous, have been burned by inflexible fund constructions or excessive volatility. HashKey’s DAT automobile helps common subscriptions and redemptions and consists of publicity to each BTC and ETH to scale back focus threat.
“Treasuries which have entered crypto have lengthy struggled with two points: liquidity and operations,” Chao mentioned. “Our DAT fund was constructed to resolve these ache factors.”
HashKey plans to deploy capital throughout the Bitcoin and Ethereum (ETH) ecosystems, which Chao described as the twin anchors of liquidity and innovation in at the moment’s crypto panorama. Precedence sectors embody custody, funds, staking companies, and controlled stablecoin infrastructure.
The fund’s scope is worldwide. Whereas it launched in Hong Kong, Chao confirmed HashKey can also be concentrating on the US, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia and the UK, noting that “the funding thesis of the fund is world from day one.”
Misconceptions are obstacles, says Chao
Chao additionally addressed skepticism from conventional finance. Many institutional gamers nonetheless consider crypto is speculative, arduous to safe, or incompatible with commonplace accounting. “These misconceptions are usually not simply gaps in understanding, they’re obstacles to broader institutional adoption,” he added.
Wanting forward, Chao mentioned HashKey is particularly bullish on real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, institutional OTC markets and infrastructure for onchain monetary merchandise.
“Tokenized merchandise develop the investable universe,” he mentioned. “OTC markets present the channels for capital to circulate at scale… This convergence indicators a shift from fragmented crypto exercise to a completely built-in digital finance ecosystem.”
