Pantera Capital predicts: By 2026, the digital asset treasury DAT will undergo a "brutal reshuffle," leading the market into an era dominated by giants

Pantera Capital points out that the enterprise crypto asset market will undergo large-scale consolidation in 2026, with well-funded giants continuing to dominate Bitcoin and Ethereum treasuries, while small and medium-sized enterprises face pressure to be acquired or phased out.
(Background recap: GameStop suspected of “dumping” Bitcoin! Half of the holdings transferred to Coinbase, with a paper loss of $70 million, will exit DAT strategy?)
(Additional background: The DAT panic is over! MSCI temporarily suspends removing crypto treasury stocks from the index, Strategy surges 7% after hours)

The well-known crypto asset investment firm Pantera Capital recently released a new outlook indicating that 2026 will be a year of significant consolidation for Digital Asset Treasury (DAT). Pantera Capital describes this trend as “brutal pruning,” expecting only a few capital-rich giants to continue leading major assets like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), while other small and medium-sized enterprises may be acquired, phased out, or forced to exit the market.

Corporate Bitcoin and Ethereum Treasuries Are Highly Concentrated

According to Pantera Capital’s analysis, the DAT market expanded rapidly in 2025, with publicly listed companies significantly increasing their crypto holdings. However, after 2026, the market will enter a brutal survival-of-the-fittest phase. Among major assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum, only one or two dominant players may remain in the end, while most other participants will be acquired or fall behind, with only a few long-tail token projects having a chance to survive.

Taking Bitcoin as an example, the leader Strategy led by Michael Saylor continues to buy in large quantities, spending about $2.13 billion last week to acquire over 22,000 BTC, bringing its total holdings close to 710,000 BTC, with an average cost of about $76,000 per coin. The overall corporate Bitcoin treasury now accounts for about 5.4% of the total supply, but is highly concentrated among a few giants.

In terms of Ethereum, BitMine remains the largest corporate holder, having accumulated over 92,000 ETH this year, representing about 3.48% of the total supply. Hong Kong investment firm Trend Research also financed through decentralized lending protocol Aave, purchasing over 41,000 ETH; other small and medium-sized Ethereum treasury companies rarely announce new moves, indicating a rapidly widening gap in capital strength.

Capital Efficiency and Financing Ability Determine Corporate Survival

Pantera Capital points out that this wave of consolidation mainly stems from differences in capital efficiency and financing ability. Well-funded large players can continuously accumulate assets at low cost, while small and medium-sized enterprises relying on debt or equity issuance are more vulnerable during market volatility or liquidity crunches. At the end of last year, companies like ETHZilla were forced to sell ETH to repay debts, highlighting the reality of financial pressure.

Related reading: Ethereum Treasury ETHZilla Sells 24,291 ETH to Repay Debt: From DAT to RWA Tokenization

As Bitcoin and Ethereum increasingly become core components of corporate balance sheets, Pantera expects that by 2026, the “winner-takes-all” pattern will accelerate, with capital-rich players further consolidating their lead, while weaker companies may be forced to exit or merge into larger players.

In short, the market is entering an era of “a few winners dominating,” and who can survive the competition will determine the future landscape of the digital asset market.