BOYAA Interactive (HKEX:00434), a company primarily engaged in online gaming, released its annual results announcement on the evening of March 15. The report showed the company incurred an attributable net loss of approximately HK$239 million for the year 2025. This stands in stark contrast to its performance in 2024, when it recorded an attributable net profit of about HK$969 million. While BOYAA's core online gaming business reported revenue largely consistent with the previous year, the dramatic fluctuation in its overall financial performance is primarily attributed to Bitcoin, which has proven to be both a boon and a bane. As of the end of 2025, the fair value of Bitcoin constituted 83.1% of the company's total assets.
Companies that hold cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin as core asset reserves are often termed Digital Asset Treasury (DAT) companies. The stock prices and profit levels of such firms are highly correlated with cryptocurrency prices, presenting unique risk and return characteristics in the market. Observations indicate that several Hong Kong-listed companies shifted their focus towards cryptocurrencies in 2025, with some experiencing multi-fold increases in their share prices. However, with the significant downturn in the cryptocurrency market over the past six months, the allure of the DAT model has begun to fade.
An analysis suggests that Bitcoin remains a high-beta risk asset without independent safe-haven properties. Its valuation is heavily dependent on global liquidity cycles rather than technical consensus. This means DAT companies, by tethering their operational results to coin prices, may see their book wealth artificially inflated during market upswings. Conversely, they inevitably face a collapse in both performance and share price during significant market downturns. This strategy has been viewed by some as financial speculation leveraging accounting standards.
A well-known example of a DAT company is the US-listed entity, MicroStrategy. Reports indicate that MicroStrategy employs a capital operation model often described as "Bitcoin securitization," raising funds through methods like stock and convertible bond issuances to continuously increase its Bitcoin holdings. This represents a common operational pattern for such companies. As of January 26, 2026, MicroStrategy's Bitcoin holdings reached 712,600 coins, accounting for approximately 3.6% of the existing Bitcoin supply.
In the Hong Kong market, BOYAA was among the early adopters, proposing a $5 million budget to purchase Bitcoin and Ethereum in 2023 and making several subsequent acquisitions. In 2025, BOYAA placed a total of 59.973 million shares at HK$6.95 per share, raising net proceeds of approximately HK$410 million. In September of that year, the company announced the completion of a purchase of about 411 Bitcoins using roughly HK$370 million from the placement proceeds. By the end of 2025, BOYAA held approximately 4,092 Bitcoins, with a total value of around $279 million.
Following its accumulation strategy, BOYAA's share price rose from about HK$0.5 per share in August 2023 to a peak of HK$9.36 per share in August 2025. Another Hong Kong-listed company, Guofu Quantum (HKEX:00290), also ventured into cryptocurrencies early, with its board approving HK$5 million for cryptocurrency investments in March 2024. Between March and August 2024, the company further purchased Bitcoin valued at approximately HK$36 million.
Cryptocurrency prices continued to rise until October 2025, leading many Hong Kong-listed companies, including some with market capitalizations exceeding HK$10 billion, to begin allocating funds to Bitcoin and Ethereum. The DAT company model briefly became a significant trend. The total market capitalization of the cryptocurrency market reached $3.5 trillion by the end of the second quarter of 2025. While Bitcoin is increasingly considered a treasury asset option by listed companies, major tech giants have collectively rejected proposals to incorporate Bitcoin into their treasuries, highlighting a clear divergence in financial strategy.
Bitcoin reached a historic high of $126,200 per coin in October 2025. However, in the subsequent six months, the global cryptocurrency market experienced a sharp decline, with Bitcoin touching a low of $60,000 per coin in February 2026. As the market entered a deep correction, the once-popular DAT companies faced a severe test. By the market close on March 13, 2026, BOYAA's share price had fallen to HK$2.81 per share, less than one-third of its peak price. Several other Hong Kong-listed cryptocurrency concept stocks also saw substantial corrections from their levels around September 2025, with some trading at less than one-tenth of their all-time highs.
Under the current circumstances, BOYAA has expressed an attitude of indifference to short-term cryptocurrency price fluctuations. The company stated that it views cryptocurrencies primarily Bitcoin as strategic Web3 assets with no immediate plans for sale. It emphasized that its core online gaming business generates stable cash flow, and it believes cryptocurrency price changes have no substantial impact on its daily cash flow or business operations. BOYAA further indicated that excluding non-operational, one-off factors like fair value changes in digital assets and equity investment partnerships, it recorded an unaudited non-IFRS adjusted net profit of approximately HK$129 million for 2025, a year-on-year decrease of about 37.2%.
The dual pressure on share price and profitability stems not only from the sharp decline in asset prices like Bitcoin but also exposes the inherent vulnerability of this business model. Analysts point out that the valuation system of DAT companies resembles a self-reinforcing cycle: companies position themselves as "leveraged Bitcoin" to attract capital and boost their share price, which in turn allows them to raise more funds to increase cryptocurrency holdings. Rising coin prices then seemingly "validate" and further push up the company's share price and profits. This cycle acts as a growth engine during bull markets but can amplify downward pressure during downturns. A falling Bitcoin price deteriorates the company's assets and profits, triggering investor sell-offs, and potentially forcing management to sell assets, further depressing the coin price and worsening the company's fundamentals.
This model has been described as essentially "financial speculation using accounting standards," where companies link their operational outcomes to coin prices. This transforms substantive businesses into virtual asset funds, lacking business depth and representing a misjudgment in the path of digital economic transformation. The challenges for DAT companies extend beyond market volatility. The pure "hold and appreciate" model is predicted to be gradually marginalized due to its lack of business depth and compliance risks. The real future for listed companies holding cryptocurrencies lies in "de-speculation" and "tool-oriented transformation," meaning applying blockchain technology to value-creating scenarios like cross-border payments or real-world asset tokenization, rather than simple asset hoarding.
Analysis suggests that if the crypto market remains depressed long-term, DAT companies will face multiple tests: pressure from shareholders for returns, debt risks potentially triggered by high leverage, and a tightening financing environment. Notably, regulators appear to be adopting a cautious stance towards DAT companies. There are indications that Hong Kong may prohibit listed companies from transforming into entities that purely accumulate cryptocurrencies. Expert opinion holds that regulatory caution is necessary and reasonable. The core duty of regulators is to protect investor interests and maintain market order. The DAT business model is contentious and accompanies high market volatility and potential risks, which could amplify systemic risk in extreme market conditions. Regulatory prudence aims to prevent volatility in the crypto market from spilling over into traditional finance and to maintain systemic stability.
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