The crypto industry is at a tipping point as the fusion of digital assets with traditional finance is merging, says Polygon Foundation co-founder Sandeep Nailwal.
Founded in 2017 as Matic Network to tackle Ethereum's scaling limits, Polygon has since become a widely used Web3 stack for thousands of decentralized apps. The project rebranded to Polygon in 2021
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While he agrees that the merger of traditional finance and crypto is a bullish turning point for the sector, Nailwal has raised a red flag about inexperienced players handling large amounts of money without understanding the ropes of regulated markets, especially in the purview of Digital Asset Treasury , commonly known as DATs.
Digital asset treasuries (DATs) have emerged in 2025 as issuers tokenize treasury holdings or raise capital to manage on-chain treasuries targeting yield. They've tapped public and private offerings and de-SPAC routes, drawing both institutional and retail flows but also structural questions
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Nailwal noted that crypto has always been the "polar opposite"of the banking establishment. But now that regulation is strong and clear under President Trump, he believes that cultures are starting to merge:
"The finance bros are becoming crypto bros, and crypto bros are becoming finance bros. The finance bros understand the rules of the game. But a lot of crypto grows are becoming finance grows, and they know nothing about these rules, nothing."
Crypto treasuries boom
More than 110 publicly listed companies now collectively hold $137 billion in digital assets, with Bitcoin dominance at 83.7% ($114.7 billion) and a 30-day trading volume of $887.3 billion.
MicroStrategy remains the largest corporate Bitcoin holder with 640,031 BTC, valued at $71.9 billion. Major miners including Marathon Digital (MARA) and Riot Platforms (RIOT), along with Coinbase (COIN), continue to represent key institutional players in the space.
Among the headline names, Tesla currently holds 11,509 BTC valued at $1.29 billion, while Trump Media & Technology Group owns 15,000 BTC worth $1.68 billion.
Data from Arkham Intelligence corroborates Tesla's holdings, confirming around 11,500 BTC in associated on-chain wallets.
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Premiums and Discounts in DATs
Nailwal notes early mania produced premiums at launch, followed by 25% to 30% discounts to net asset value (NAV) in some vehicles even where tokens in the treasury are freely mintable and tradable.
"It is not practical for unlocked tokens in a DAT treasury to trade at such deep discounts to NAV,"he said. "In a steady state, they should come back to spot price. I see these DATs as nothing different than a coin getting a Nasdaq listing."
Nailwal said that the current discounts are just temporary changes. He thinks that as the market matures and liquidity stabilizes, these instruments will become more closely aligned with their true worth.
"Many of the problems we see are from ignorance, not malicious intent,"he said. " As the industry grows, DATs and other products will evolve into more stable and valuable financial instruments."
Unlike the previous wave of mixed-quality offerings, he claims new treasuries will be better structured, integrated with DeFi, and give more consistent rates to institutional and retail investors.
Related: Exclusive: Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino on CBDC threats
This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Oct 14, 2025, where it first appeared in the Business News section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
