Tom Lee: Is the rise in crypto company stock prices due to rising coin prices or reserve strategies?

MicroStrategy ($MSTR) has seen its stock price surge 35-fold since adopting a Bitcoin ($BTC) treasury strategy in 2020, rising from $13 to $455.
The increase is attributed to two factors:
- 11x due to Bitcoin's price rise from $11,000 to $118,000.
- 25x from the treasury strategy, which increased the number of Bitcoin held per share.
The Digital Asset Treasury (DAT) strategy enhances per-share token holdings by:
- Issuing shares while maintaining a favorable P/NAV ratio.
- Leveraging token price volatility to reduce borrowing costs and boost ROI.
- Using convertible bonds/preferred stock to limit equity dilution.
ETH's higher volatility compared to BTC means DAT strategies may have a greater impact on ETH-focused treasuries.
Bitmine ($BMNR) recently adopted an ETH treasury strategy, acquiring $1 billion worth of ETH in 7 days, outpacing $MSTR's initial $250 million BTC acquisition pace.
The article highlights how crypto reserve strategies can significantly amplify stock performance beyond mere token price appreciation.

By Thomas (Tom) Lee (not drummer) FSInsight.com

Compiled by: TechFlow

Understanding DAT* (Digital Asset Treasury) and BTC/ETH Treasury Strategy

* This post has been approved by @saylor (MicroStrategy CEO)

Case Study: $MSTR Creates Template for Crypto Treasury Strategy.

Since the start of the $BTC strategy in 2020, Strategy’s stock price has surged from $13 to $455.

question:

How much of the stock price increase is due to the increase in the price of Bitcoin, and how much is due to crypto reserve strategies?

Behind the 35-fold increase in $MSTR stock price:

11 times due to the increase in the price of Bitcoin ($BTC) from $11,000 to $118,000
25 times from treasury strategy
That is, the number of bitcoins held per share increases

The impact of the treasury strategy goes far beyond the increase in token price.

$MSTR’s DAT (Digital Asset Treasury) strategy increases the number of tokens held per share by:

Issued shares > P/NAV (market value) = Number of tokens per share increases
Price volatility of tokens reduces borrowing costs = higher return on investment (ROI)
Use convertible bonds/preferred stock = limit equity dilution

By the way:

$ETH is more volatile than $BTC
Therefore, this volatility has a greater impact on ETH DAT than BTC DAT.

@grok created the following table (excerpt)

Note from Deep Tide: This table shows some of MicroStrategy's (MSTR) financing activities since it began to include Bitcoin as part of its treasury in 2020. These include internal cash, Convertible Senior Notes, Senior Secured Notes, Secured Loans, and ATM Equity Programs, almost all of which were used to purchase Bitcoin.

Bitmine announced its ETH treasury strategy on June 30, 2025, and completed the transaction on July 9, 2025.

The $MSTR example shows that buying tokens can:

Increase the number of tokens per share

$BMNR 7 days after initial transaction:

Acquired $1 billion worth of ETH

$MSTR acquired $250 million in tokens in the same time frame

Tom Lee: Is the rise in crypto company stock prices due to rising coin prices or reserve strategies?

Popular Articles

Curated Series