The DAT Shift: What’s Pulling Biotech Firms Into the Crypto Treasury Game?

2025 has shaped up to be a defining year for the emerging digital asset treasury movement, widely referred to as DATs. Research indicates that more than 100 publicly traded firms have embraced the DAT strategy, with a significant portion of them in the biotech sector—a field grappling with financial headwinds this year.

Biotech’s Crypto Play: Why Are so Many Firms Turning to DATs?

DATs have gained traction this year, with research showing that out of more than 100 public firms announcing and implementing these strategies, at least 20 are biotech companies. A biotech (biotechnology) company typically harnesses living organisms, biological systems, or their derivatives to create products and technologies designed to enhance human health, agriculture, manufacturing, and the environment.

Most often, the term is used to describe companies centered on human health and medicine. Figures reveal that the biotech sector has faced ongoing underperformance since 2024, leaving many investors frustrated. As a result, funding—particularly for early-stage and mid-sized biotech firms—remains extremely limited. To adapt, companies have placed a strong emphasis on operational discipline, cash management, and scenario planning to navigate the downturn.

One such scenario is the DAT strategy. A notable example is 180 Life Sciences, a clinical-stage biotech firm developing innovative treatments for inflammatory diseases, fibrosis, and pain. This year, the company announced a major pivot, unveiling plans to adopt a digital asset treasury approach and rebrand as ETHzilla Corporation, signaling a shift toward crypto assets while still retaining elements of its biotech portfolio.

Data from strategicethreserve.xyz shows that ETHzilla ranks as the fifth-largest ETH treasury holder. A large slew of other biotech firms have also leaned into the DAT movement, including Acurx Pharmaceuticals with a BTC treasury, Artelo Biosciences with SOL, Atai Life Sciences with BTC, Bridge Biotherapeutics with BTC, Cosmos Health Inc. with ETH, Enlivex Therapeutics with BTC, Eyenovia with HYPE, and Hoth Therapeutics with BTC.

In addition, companies such as LIXTE Biotechnology Holdings, MEI Pharma, Windtree Therapeutics, and Portage Biotech—now rebranded as AlphaTON—have joined the roster of biotechs exploring this strategy among several more. The biotech sector’s pivot toward DAT strategies signals a broader change in how firms are handling tight funding and stalled markets.

For some, it may reflect a fight for survival, while others are threading digital assets into their treasuries as a bold step away from traditional finance (TradFi). This wave may also reflect opportunism, with firms chasing 2025’s crypto balance sheet or DAT hype to rebrand and draw eyes rather than fix core flaws. If crypto asset markets slip, these bets could leave companies on shakier ground.

It remains unclear why so many biotech firms have pivoted toward DAT strategies—whether out of necessity or simple experimentation. What is clear, however, is that the crypto community has embraced each new entrant, treating every addition to the DAT roster as a validation of the ongoing trend.