New Paradigm for Corporate Treasury: Understanding the 2026 Trend of Public Company Crypto Asset Allocation

On April 6, 2026, Futu Holdings, DraftKings, and Lionsgate Pictures each separately disclosed or were reported to have plans to allocate crypto assets. DraftKings has completed a $15 million Bitcoin strategic allocation, planning to use it as a settlement fund pool for its Web3 sports prediction market; Lionsgate Pictures used $5 million to buy Bitcoin, to serve as an on-chain tokenized asset reserve for future film IP; Futu Holdings was reported to have been approved a $20 million crypto asset treasury allocation limit, but subsequent verification found that information to be inaccurate.

As of April 7, 2026, the total Bitcoin holdings of globally listed companies are approximately 1.03328 million BTC, accounting for 5.2% of circulating supply. In January 2026, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued regulatory guidance for security tokens, and in March it further proposed a “safe harbor” framework, with the marginal uncertainty in regulation continuing to decline.

Event Subjects and Allocation Scale

The three listed companies come from the fintech, sports betting, and media entertainment industries respectively, with different allocation scales and uses:

• DraftKings: $15 million in Bitcoin, used as the underlying settlement fund pool for its Web3 sports prediction market.
• Lionsgate Pictures: $5 million in Bitcoin, as an asset reserve for on-chain tokenized (RWA) assets related to film IP.
• Futu Holdings: a rumored $20 million crypto asset allocation quota; after verification, it was false information, reminding the market to pay attention to distinguishing facts from rumors.

Globally, the total Bitcoin holdings by listed companies have already exceeded 1.03 million BTC, with an estimated market value of about $71.78 billion. Metaplanet increased its holdings by about 5,075 BTC in Q1 2026, bringing its total holdings to 40,177 BTC, making it the third-largest corporate holder in the world.

Drivers of Crypto Allocations: Asset Hedging, Web3 Integration, and Regulatory Changes

When companies include crypto assets on their balance sheets, it is mainly based on three types of verifiable drivers:

1. Asset hedging and treasury diversification

Against the backdrop of expectations for fiat currency depreciation and geopolitical uncertainty, Bitcoin—a non-sovereign asset with a capped total supply—is viewed by some companies as a long-term store-of-value tool. At the beginning of 2026, multiple companies shifted from “buying when the timing is right” to an “algorithmic, standardized automated execution” allocation model, using programmed dollar-cost averaging to convert idle cash flows into digital assets.

2. Business scenarios and Web3 strategic synergy

DraftKings’ Bitcoin reserves directly serve its upcoming on-chain prediction market, while Lionsgate Pictures’ BTC holdings provide real-asset backing for IP tokenization. This “build the position first, then apply it” strategy reflects how listed companies are making upfront investments of crypto assets as foundational infrastructure for Web3 businesses.

3. Marginal clarity in the regulatory framework

In January 2026, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a regulatory guidance statement for security tokens. In March 2026, SEC Chair Paul Atkins further proposed a “safe harbor” framework, aiming to address long-standing classification disputes over whether crypto assets constitute securities. As regulatory uncertainty decreases, the legal risk for companies to enter the market compliantly is reduced as well.

Structural Costs of Corporate Crypto Allocations

When listed companies include crypto assets on their balance sheets, they face three identifiable categories of structural costs:

Volatility management costs

As of April 7, 2026, Gate’s market data shows that the BTC price is trading in a range of $68,500 to $69,000. Price volatility directly affects the fair value of assets reported in companies’ quarterly reports. Companies need to introduce hedging instruments (such as enterprise-level Bitcoin volatility index options launched by Cboe Global Markets) or bear the risk of unrealized losses on their books.

Compliance and accounting treatment costs

Holding, custody, measurement, and disclosure of crypto assets must comply with more complex regulatory and compliance frameworks. The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has issued new accounting standards for crypto assets, but in actual implementation, further clarification is still needed. Accordingly, operating costs for companies’ legal and finance teams increase.

Corporate governance “tug-of-war” costs

Allocating crypto assets involves strategic disagreements at the board level—short-term speculation or long-term reserves? How should decision-making authority for decisions to increase or reduce holdings be allocated? These questions are becoming new topics in corporate governance.

Impact on the Crypto Industry Landscape

Collective entry by listed companies is changing the structure of the crypto industry from three dimensions:

Supply-side freeze effect

Companies make large purchases and hold them long term, reducing the amount of tradable supply in the secondary market. A corporate holding of 1.03 million BTC implies that about 5.2% of circulating supply is locked in the balance sheet.

Acceleration of compliance and mainstreaming

When listed companies incorporate crypto assets into their financial reports, they must accept audits, follow accounting standards, and conduct compliant custody. This process is pushing crypto infrastructure toward institutional-grade standards.

Acceleration of the “holding-coin” competitive landscape

The ranking of companies’ Bitcoin holdings has become a new dimension by which capital markets evaluate corporate treasury strategies, forcing more listed companies to reassess their own allocation strategies.

Future Evolution Directions (Scenario Analysis Based on Information Already Disclosed)

Based on disclosed corporate announcements and public industry information, the logic behind listed companies’ crypto asset allocation shows a trend of evolution across modern eras:

• Current stage: mainly “buy and hold,” treating Bitcoin as digital gold or reserve assets.
• Mid-term stage: use financial engineering tools (equity financing, convertible bonds, etc.) to achieve scaled allocations, optimizing treasury management through asset conversion between the capital market and the crypto market.
• Next stage (protocol governance): companies no longer just hold assets; instead, through large holdings of governance-type tokens, they connect to on-chain protocols to capture staking and other staking/yield benefits, and participate in network validation and upgrade decision-making. DraftKings positioning its Bitcoin reserves as the underlying settlement fund pool for a Web3 prediction market can be seen as a case of transitioning from “holders” to “ecosystem builders.”

Risk Disclosures

Listed companies allocating to crypto assets face the following verifiable risk types:

• Price volatility risk: the crypto market trades 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; BTC price has not yet firmly established itself above the key psychological level of $70,000, so companies must be ready at all times to respond to significant changes in book value.
• Information verification risk: the market rumor that “Futu Holdings was approved a $20 million allocation quota” has been verified as inaccurate information, reminding investors to distinguish between official corporate announcements and unverified rumors.
• Accounting and tax uncertainty: the specific applicability of FASB’s new standards still needs to be clarified; companies need to pay attention to tax obligations in holding and trading cryptocurrencies to avoid compliance oversights.

FAQ

Q: Which U.S. listed companies hold Bitcoin?

As of April 2026, besides MicroStrategy (renamed to Strategy), listed companies that hold Bitcoin include companies across multiple industries, such as the sports betting platform DraftKings, the media entertainment company Lionsgate Pictures, the fintech company Futu Holdings (rumors unverified), and the Japanese investment company Metaplanet, among others. The total holdings of globally listed companies exceed 1.03 million BTC.

Q: What regulatory requirements does the SEC have for listed companies holding crypto assets?

In January 2026, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued regulatory guidance for security tokens, and in March it proposed a “safe harbor” framework, clarifying that crypto assets may be exempt from securities registration requirements under certain conditions. Listed companies need to measure crypto assets at fair value according to FASB accounting standards and disclose their holdings in quarterly reports. Specific compliance requirements vary depending on a company’s place of registration and the nature of its business.

Q: How does a listed company’s purchase of Bitcoin affect its stock price?

Historical data shows that after companies announce their Bitcoin allocations, the stock price’s short-term reaction is influenced by market sentiment, allocation size, and the relevance of the company’s core business to the allocation. The long-term impact depends on BTC price volatility and the company’s ability to manage its treasury. It should be noted that stock prices are affected by multiple factors, and crypto asset allocations are only one of them.