Bitcoin exposure or fiat disguise? Treasury firms divide the crypto community

by Ron Effertz

Bitcoin treasury corporations — entities that win the digital asset (on the total through borrowed resources) — offer purchasers oblique exposure through their stock. Some imagine that these corporations lift Bitcoin to Wall Aspect motorway. Others think that these treasury corporations are doing the opposite: turning bitcoiners into so-known as “fiat bros.”

From self-custody of private keys to oblique Bitcoin ‘exposure’

In 2021, billionaire and X owner Elon Musk famously replied “Your app sucks” to a crypto pockets that didn’t strengthen user entry to their private keys. Now, when Bitcoin ETFs and Bitcoin treasury corporations procure so powerful attention, it’ll just seem that self-custody has silently left the scene.

Even supposing the wide memoir is obsessed with the details about treasury corporations spending millions of bucks (of borrowed money) to buy as many bitcoins as which that you just would be in a position to bring to mind, bitcoiners who (at simplest) don’t care about “oblique exposure to Bitcoin” didn’t traipse any place. They’re appropriate kind now no longer as seen on social and mass media.

Oblique Bitcoin exposure, or proudly owning paper Bitcoin, is proudly owning definite resources issued by the firm that strategically win Bitcoin on its steadiness sheets. Shares of Bitcoin treasury corporations (for instance, MSTR by Draw) or change-traded funds (ETFs) of asset management corporations holding Bitcoin (for instance, IBIT by BlackRock) are two of the hottest kinds of resources that advise users to Bitcoin.

It’s assumed that proudly owning these resources enables holders to aid from the price actions of Bitcoin as they’re reflected within the price of these resources. That’s why Bitcoin ETFs, shares of Bitcoin treasury corporations, Bitcoin derivatives, and identical resources are notion to be to be holding Bitcoin, even supposing it’s indubitably paper Bitcoin.

Read extra: How we went from Bitcoin whitepaper to “paper” Bitcoin

Are treasury corporations Trojan-horsing Wall Aspect motorway?

Some see treasury corporations as a simple methodology for institutional and company merchants to enter the crypto market. Certainly, for corporations, buying shares of Draw is more uncomplicated than buying Bitcoin by methodology of the regulation. Draw is holding practically 600,000 bitcoins, and participating in this kind of smartly-liked activity as buying MSTR shares exposes corporate investors to Bitcoin’s label fluctuations.

As treasury corporations proceed to amass bitcoins relentlessly, they expand buying stress, which prevents the BTC label from experiencing important drops. Corporations buying shares of treasury corporations now indirectly invest in Bitcoin.

Bitcoin treasury corporations short fiat money and buy bitcoin.

Supreme commerce mannequin in human ancient past.

— Joe Burnett, MSBA (@IIICapital) July 1, 2025

Michael Saylor, the Chairman of Draw, talked about he needs to bridge the cryptocurrency financial system and frail capital markets. Some see him and other treasury corporations as a Malicious program that takes Bitcoin to Wall Aspect motorway.

Nonetheless, some survey the opposite going down – treasury corporations are turning bitcoiners into frail finance merchants. Treasury corporations’ critics stress that, despite powerful discuss Bitcoin, these corporations are operating within the smartly-liked-or-garden finance sector and promoting their shares to each TradFi (frail finance) and crypto merchants.

Who’s Trojan Horsing Who?@americanhodl8 deserves an Oscar for this Bitcoin masterpiece 🔥

pic.twitter.com/mek5h12RMo

— Walker⚡️ (@WalkerAmerica) June 30, 2025

Significantly, these corporations don’t pay their workers in crypto, nor attain they accept Bitcoin as a payment methodology for his or her shares, amongst other things. Actually, these corporations don’t offer any longer or less Bitcoin abilities to their purchasers and workers.

For the TradFi sector, treasury corporations motivate as a methodology to income from Bitcoin’s worth drawl. Nonetheless, for Bitcoin merchants, these corporations might well just seem like a TradFi agent’s invasion that seduces people to cease buying and holding bitcoins and switch to a frail instrument love shares. The Bitcoin usual memoir allegedly most productive serves as a promotion tool for the target market of Bitcoin followers.

https://t.co/RASOc9PsWg

— Satoshi’s Journal (@SatoshisJournal) November 10, 2024

While there is nothing horrible with competing for merchants, it sounds as if bitcoiners are angered by the fact that treasury corporations cling contaminated plenty of the Bitcoin-connected media with promotional posts about them.

Self-custody advocates argue that Bitcoin podcasters, Crypto X, crypto conferences–all these platforms are “shilling” Draw and Nakamoto shares. This potential that, it leaves too limited advise for conversation with those that fragment identical values, similar to independence and a self-custody philosophy.

“Every podcaster who’s now no longer a treasury firm government is a policy failure. We must take cling of the methodology of paper bitcoin production”

Wow!

(pic unrelated) pic.twitter.com/6142sYrBFy

— Andrew M. Bailey (@resistancemoney) July 3, 2025

One other reveal associated with treasury corporations is that their solutions might well just now no longer be so protected, and at some point soon, they’ll must promote the bitcoins they buy. It’ll just trigger a domino attain that might well bury even giants love Draw.

In response to a recent document from enterprise capital firm Breed, most Bitcoin treasury corporations are now no longer more seemingly to live on a “death spiral” that might well presumably be triggered by a sudden descend within the BTC label.

The possibilities of the corporations resurrecting after the break are thinner, especially given their centralized nature.

Read extra: No longer all Bitcoin holding corporations will steer clear of death spiral, original document says

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