Crypto treasury inflows fall to $180M in May amid ETF pressure

Monthly inflows into digital asset treasury companies dropped to $180 million in May, the lowest level since October 2024, according to DefiLlama. The May total was down 95% from April’s $4.4 billion.

March and April recorded stronger inflows of $4.2 billion and $4.4 billion respectively. The May figure is about 93% below the January–May monthly average. Bitcoin-focused treasury companies provided roughly $177 million, about 98% of May’s inflows, down from $3.8 billion in April.

Non-Bitcoin assets made a marginal contribution: small inflows were recorded for ZCash, Story and Sui, while Litecoin showed an outflow of $1.89 million.

Market participants cite the growth of spot crypto exchange-traded funds and compression of net asset values as factors that reduce the premiums public treasury firms can charge. Galaxy Digital stated that the ‘raise-and-hold’ era for digital asset treasuries is over and recommended putting assets to work through staking, validator infrastructure or decentralized finance strategies.

A staking infrastructure provider reported that among six treasury companies that disclosed staking income, staking represented an average of 60% of reported revenue.

Arthur Firstov, chief business officer at Mercuryo, described blaming ETFs alone as ‘oversimplifying’ market dynamics and said ETFs impose ‘a permanent ceiling on what premium treasury firms can charge.’ He added that staking yields of 3% to 5% can improve capital efficiency for proof-of-stake holdings but cannot resolve companies with high operating costs, continuous equity dilution or balance-sheet losses.

Some treasury operators are deploying tokens into staking, validator roles or DeFi strategies, while others are pursuing business models that generate recurring revenue. With inflows slowing, market observers say quarterly results and clear revenue paths will become more important for public treasury companies seeking investor support.