Why Is Bitcoin struggling At $90K? Follow The $42B In Corporate Debt
Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) fell to $90,500 on Tuesday, erasing most of its 2025 gains and briefly pushing the Crypto Fear & Greed Index down to 10, its lowest level since February. The move comes amid weaker Fed rate-cut expectations, November outflows of roughly $2.33 billion from U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs, and elevated miner selling after the April halving.
Beneath those familiar drivers, though, a newer source of pressure is emerging. Digital Asset Treasury Companies (DATCos) have deployed an estimated $42.7 billion into cryptocurrencies this year, often using convertible debt and other financing structures. With some of these treasuries now about 40% below peak value and market liquidity thinner than it was before October’s selloff, balance-sheet constraints are starting to translate into forced sales into a less supportive market.
Now many of them are underwater. And their funding structures (convertible notes, PIPE deals, and other debt instruments) are creating what analysts call “forced seller dynamics” at the wrong time.
The Numbers Behind the Problem
Digital Asset Treasury Companies poured an estimated $42.7 billion into crypto throughout 2025, with $22.6 billion deployed in Q3 alone. The strategy worked well when Bitcoin rallied from $60,000 in early 2025 to a peak above $126,000 in early October. Reuters has also reported on the rapid growth and funding risks of these DATCos.
But since that peak, things have reversed.
Solana-focused (CRYPTO: SOL) treasury companies saw their aggregate net asset value drop from $3.5 billion to $2.1 billion, a 40% decline. When a DATCo’s market-to-net-asset-value ratio (mNAV) falls toward parity, meaning the stock price is roughly equal to just the value of the crypto it holds, management faces pressure to sell crypto assets to buy back the company’s own stock.
News coverage captured the situation: “The absence of conviction-based spot demand has become increasingly apparent as buyers who accumulated positions over the last six months now find themselves significantly underwater.”
In other words: companies that Wall Street praised six months ago for “corporate crypto adoption” are now potential forced sellers, adding supply when demand has dried up.
Why This Is Different From MicroStrategy
It’s important to distinguish between different types of corporate crypto holders.
MicroStrategy (now rebranded as “Strategy”) (NASDAQ:MSTR) has become the poster child for corporate Bitcoin accumulation. The company holds primarily Bitcoin, has manageable debt structures, and recently purchased another 8,178 BTC near $93,000 even during this recent weakness, according to Bitcoin Magazine.
But many smaller DATCos took a different path. As Moody’s analyst Cristiano Ventricelli warned, these companies “are expanding towards more exotic and less liquid cryptocurrencies, and that’s exactly where the risk could be much higher.”
The risk is not about which assets they hold, but how they funded those purchases.
Many DATCos used convertible notes and PIPE financing to raise capital for crypto buys. These structures create what is described as a “fragile structure”: when crypto prices fall, these companies struggle to service debt or refinance without triggering what critics call a “death spiral.” Forced asset sales push prices lower, making their balance sheets worse, forcing more sales.
How Forced Selling Works in Practice
When a DATCo’s stock trades below the value of its crypto holdings (mNAV below 1.0), shareholders pressure management to unlock value. The most direct way to do that is buying back stock, but that requires cash. If the company doesn’t have excess cash, it needs to sell crypto.
Even if management wants to hold long-term, debt covenants or convertible note terms may force asset sales when certain thresholds are breached.
One on-chain analysis noted: “The concentration of November deposits around Bitcoin’s post-crash lows near $100,000 suggests miners may have engaged in defensive selling.” Similar dynamics apply to overleveraged treasury companies.
This isn’t speculation. The impact of these treasury companies on Bitcoin’s recent price action is now clearly visible as their underwater positions force …
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