Digital asset treasury companies have experienced a stark divergence in performance during the current crypto market downturn. According to Artemis data, Hyperliquid-focused treasury firms remain the only major group still holding meaningful paper gains, even after HYPE pulled back from its record high above $74 earlier this week. Hyperliquid Strategies holds approximately 23.7 million HYPE tokens and maintains more than $1.1 billion in unrealized gains, despite HYPE falling 11.98% during the latest market pullback. Hyperion DeFi, which disclosed just over 2 million HYPE in its latest SEC filing, also remains profitable with approximately $35 million in unrealized gains on its HYPE holdings. However, the latest data shows HYPE surged 81% in May, surpassing the $70 mark for the first time as the token emerged as the month's biggest winner according to Binance data.
The contrast with traditional crypto treasury companies has become particularly stark in 2026. SaylorTracker data reveals that Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, now holds more than $12.8 billion in unrealized bitcoin losses. The company, which helped popularize the corporate bitcoin treasury model and remains the largest public bitcoin holder, began buying bitcoin when the asset traded near $10,000, but its average acquisition cost has climbed to approximately $75,000 per BTC after years of purchases. This week, Strategy sold 32 bitcoins for $2.5 billion, after which bitcoin fell toward $59,100, leaving the company with a paper loss of about 20% on its holdings. MSTR shares were down more than 11% on Friday near $116, close to a two-year low, with betting market participants on Polymarket tapping an 80% probability that the company would sell some of its Bitcoin holdings this year.
Ethereum treasury companies are experiencing significant pressure as ETH fell below $1,550 on Friday, its lowest level in more than a year. Artemis estimates that Bitmine, chaired by Fundstrat's Tom Lee, has approximately $10.5 billion in unrealized losses on more than 5.4 million ETH. At current prices, those holdings are worth about $8.6 billion. Bitmine's ETH position represents nearly 4.5% of Ethereum's circulating supply, with the company previously stating it wants to raise that figure to 5%. BMNR shares fell more than 10% on Friday to around $16, their lowest level since the firm launched its ether treasury strategy in June 2025. Sharplink, another major ether treasury company, holds nearly 869,000 ETH with approximately $1.8 billion in paper losses. Ethereum was the weakest performer among major tokens, dropping 12.4% as sentiment was hit by the exit of several high-profile members of the Ethereum Foundation, including Bankless co-founder David Hoffman who disclosed ETH sales, arguing that network growth no longer directly benefits holders.
While Bitcoin and Ethereum remained under pressure in May, several lesser-known tokens emerged as top performers. According to Binance data, Zcash surged 57.3% after thesis-driven investment firm Multicoin Capital disclosed a sizable accumulation of the token, boosting investor confidence. BNB gained 15% after global investment management firm VanEck announced the first US-listed spot BNB ETF, physically backed by BNB held in cold storage. TRX gained 8.7%, supported by growing usage of its blockchain network for low-cost stablecoin transfers, with the blockchain's stablecoin ecosystem growing to nearly $90 billion and overtaking Solana with 4 million daily active users. The market's largest cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP, ended the month in negative territory as investor sentiment weakened amid concerns over potential selling pressure and questions on whether the Ether network's growth still benefits holders.
