- Nakamoto Holdings has raised billions to fund Bitcoin buys.
- Shares of the company are down over 96% since their May peak.
- The crypto treasury narrative “has been annihilated,” said one analyst.
One of the most hyped Bitcoin treasuries is imploding.
Nakamoto Holdings, which merged with healthcare company KindlyMD in August, crashed more than 50% on Monday, just days after its PIPE shares unlocked last week, allowing insiders to dump their stock on the market.
Shares for Nakamoto are down 96% from its May peak. Today, they trade at $1.50.
The collapse marks the first major blowup in the Bitcoin treasury boom that’s seen over 170 companies pile into the trade.
“Hoe-Lee-Smokes. The crypto treasury narrative has been annihilated,” wrote renowned crypto trader, Scott Melker, in his Tuesday newsletter.
“KindlyMD didn’t just crash and burn yesterday; it went down in scorching hot flames that would make a July 4th fireworks show in NYC look like four kindergartners playing with sparklers,” added Melker.
It’s the sharpest single collapse yet in the corporate Bitcoin boom — and it highlights a dismal reality for Bitcoin treasuries.
One in three of the more than 170 firms in the sector now trade below the value of the Bitcoin they own. Some are even resorting to accounting gimmicks to avoid delisting from the New York Stock Exchange.
PIPE dreams
The killer blow came from the PIPE unlock.
A Private Investment in Public Equity allows select investors to buy shares at a fixed price before those shares can trade freely on the open market.
In Nakamoto’s case, insiders bought shares at $1.12. They then watched the stock rocket to about $34 in May, and began to sell off their stock.
When the PIPE unlocked last Friday, all hell broke loose.
David Bailey, Nakamoto’s head honcho who helped Donald Trump embrace cryptocurrency as part of his presidential campaign last year, rushed to calm the panic.
In a late-night letter to shareholders, he called the volatility “not unusual,” even as the stock was down more than 90% from its peak.
Bailey framed the collapse as part of “establishing our base of aligned shareholders.”
He even urged “those shareholders who have come looking for a trade” to exit.
5,765 Bitcoin
The timing exposes the absurdity of the pump.
KindlyMD announced the Nakamoto merger May 12, but didn’t complete it until mid-August. Moreover, the firm didn’t buy its first Bitcoin until late August.
But Nakamoto surged anyways — as much as 2,700% at one point, mainly based on what might happen, and not actual Bitcoin holdings.
Still, KindlyMD, did purchase 5,765 Bitcoin worth about $665 million, and is now the 16th largest corporate Bitcoin holder, according to BitcoinTreasuries.
They are part of a growing trend of corporations adding Bitcoin to their balance sheet — and calling it a business model.
Right now, over 1 million Bitcoin sits in corporate coffers.
Bragging
In June, Bailey was on a podcast bragging about the treasury gold rush.
“Our worst investment we’ve made is up like 3x, and our best investment we have made is up like 200-something x,” he said on the June 13 podcast with two crypto influencers.
Asked if he’d make a billion dollars, Bailey responded: “We’re going to make a lot more than that.”
He even outlined plans to launch treasuries in “every capital market on the planet,” rattling off countries as if he was reading from a map: Saudi Arabia, UAE, Turkey, South Africa, Germany, France, UK, Netherlands, Brazil, Thailand, Taiwan, and South Korea.
Now the flagship deal is in ruins.
The warning signs
Analysts saw it coming.
The entire model — healthcare company buys Bitcoin, stock moons — made no fundamental sense, they said.
For instance, KindlyMD reported less than $10 million in revenue in the second quarter of 2025. That’s hardly a drop in the bucket for a firm that only months later would be raising billions to buy Bitcoin.
And KindlyMD isn’t alone in the scheme.
Metaplanet, a former budget hotel operator turned Bitcoin stockpiler, has also raised billions to buy Bitcoin — without much of a business model. So has famed retail videogame shop GameStop, and dozens of others.
In fact, renowned short sellers like Jim Chanos, who made a name for himself by calling the Enron collapse in 2001, have been targeting Bitcoin treasury firms for this very reason.
“We are seeing SPAC-like 2021 numbers in the Bitcoin treasury market right now,” Chanos said back in July.
Now, Nakamoto’s collapse won’t kill the Bitcoin treasury trade, but for retail investors who bought the top — and its accompanying hype — the lesson is expensive but clear: not every company can be a MicroStrategy.
Pedro Solimano is DL News’ Buenos Aires-based markets correspondent. Got at a tip? Email him at psolimano@dlnews.com.
