Bitcoin DATs Bleed as BTC Slump Deepens: What Now?

Bitcoin extended its bearish streak, dropping to a low of $61,073 before slightly rebounding. As of this writing, BTC traded at $62,860, down 14% over the last seven days. With Bitcoin hovering around $62k and the chart looking about as cheerful as a tax audit, institutional investors, especially Bitcoin treasuries, are counting losses.

As Bitcoin continued to decline, companies with BTC on their balance sheets have watched their losses balloon. According to Lookonchain, Strategy is down $10.9 billion on its BTC holdings. Currently, Strategy holds 843.7k BTC at an average buy price of $75.7k. That puts the company's total average cost basis around $63.9 billion. With BTC trading at $62k, the firm's total Bitcoin holdings have slipped to $53.05 billion, and the unrealized losses have climbed to $10.9 billion.

At the peak in October 2025, Strategy's total BTC holdings were valued at $79.8 billion. That means Strategy is down roughly $26 billion from its 2025 high, a reminder that "forever hold" sounds great until the charts start writing in red.

Strategy is not alone in counting losses. Japanese firm Metaplanet has also watched its holdings plummet in value. Metaplanet's total purchase cost sits around $3.9 billion. With the market drop, its Bitcoin holdings are now worth $2.5 billion, putting the company down $1.4 billion on paper.

These losses have been recorded across all Bitcoin treasuries, with the total value of BTC held by these firms declining by $48 billion from the 2025 peak. Apparently, the "corporate Bitcoin treasury" playbook has a few more chapters than the marketing decks suggested.

In addition to rising losses among Bitcoin treasuries, other institutional investors have continued to sell. U.S. investors have shown particularly extreme bearishness, which is rarely a good look for the world's largest economy's crypto crowd.

The Coinbase Premium Index has remained negative for 30 consecutive days. At press time, the metric sat around -0.12. With this indicator stuck in the red, it suggests that U.S. investors have mostly been selling, with little or no demand from the group.

Bitcoin's Spot ETFs further confirm this sell-side activity. According to SoSoValue data, BTC Spot Net Inflows have remained mostly negative, recording positive net inflows only twice in the last 30 days. This points to strong bearish sentiment from key market players, the kind of conviction that usually precedes either a bounce or a deeper slide.

Since ETFs and institutional investors entered the market, they have significantly influenced BTC price action. When they sell, the market tends to weaken, leading to further losses, and the opposite is also true. Therefore, as long as institutions fear more losses and continue to sell, BTC risks an extended period of weakness, which, for once, is not a revolutionary or game-changing observation.