This week’s featured collector is ponyola
ponyola collects pixelated NFTs. Check out their collection at lazy.com/ponyola
How do you think the Ninth Circuit’s BAYC ruling will affect the NFT space?
Last week’s poll was one of the most clear cut we’ve seen in a long time. An overwhelming majority believe that the Ninth Circuit’s ruling will be a big boost to NFT brand protection. This is good news for the next wave of NFT creators.
NFT Treasury Companies: The Next Big Catalyst—or Just Another Narrative Pump?
Last week’s NFT market action felt like 2021 all over again. A single anonymous sweep of 45 CryptoPunks for 2,082 ETH—roughly eight million dollars—yanked the Punk floor to 46 ETH, igniting a domino rally that sent Moonbirds soaring, Pudgy Penguins waddling upward, and Bored Apes clawing off recent lows. In just twenty-four hours the total NFT market cap ballooned almost 30 percent to 6.9 billion dollars, while trading volume tripled to multi-month highs. Amid the euphoria, Yuga Labs CEO Garga lobbed a tweet that poured jet fuel on the flames: “The world isn’t ready for NFT treasury companies but they are coming anyway.” To seasoned collectors, that single line was more than hype; it hinted at a structural shift that could reroute serious institutional money straight into blue-chip NFTs.
If the phrase “NFT treasury company” sounds new, think back to 2020-2021 when MicroStrategy turned its corporate coffers into a Bitcoin vault and became Wall Street’s proxy for BTC exposure. An NFT treasury vehicle would follow the same playbook: list on a public exchange, raise capital from equity investors, then deploy that cash into a curated portfolio of high-value NFTs—CryptoPunks, Bored Apes, Pudgy Penguins, Art Blocks grails, and other culturally iconic assets with deep liquidity and brand equity. The bet is simple: as the company’s mark-to-market net asset value rises, so does its share price, which in turn attracts more capital that can be recycled into additional purchases, tightening supply and boosting NFT floors in a feedback loop. For TradFi investors, the stock acts as a regulated wrapper around a notoriously unruly asset class. For collectors already holding the grails, sudden, price-insensitive buying could translate into instant mark-ups on their vaults.
Signals that the thesis is moving from speculation to reality are already popping up. GameSquare Holdings just absorbed the rare Cowboy-Ape CryptoPunk #5577 from Compound founder Robert Leshner in a 5.15-million-dollar stock deal and padded its own treasury with another ten million dollars worth of ETH, bringing its on-chain holdings to more than fifty-two million dollars. SharpLink Gaming and BitMine Immersion are building nine-figure ETH treasuries that could pivot into NFTs, while Animoca Brands chairman Yat Siu is openly exploring a publicly listed ApeCoin treasury vehicle—one he says could also acquire BAYC NFTs alongside tokens. Each disclosure nudges more traders to front-run what they think will land on an institutional buy list, and the resulting speculation has already pushed blue-chip floors higher.
For collectors, the upside is obvious: a single fifty-million-dollar fund vacuuming scarce supply could create a supply shock far larger than last week’s Punk sweep. Fresh capital also means new eyes, mainstream media coverage, and a narrative bridge that finally links digital culture to traditional equity markets. Yet the downsides are equally real. Unlike fungible tokens, NFTs are illiquid and unique; unloading even a handful of grail pieces during a downturn could crater floors, and auditors will have a field day figuring out how to value a hoodie Punk versus a zombie Punk. Exit liquidity vanishes fast when the music stops, and we’ve all seen what happens when narratives outrun fundamentals—ICOs, DeFi summers, GameFi winters.
So what’s the smart move? Focus on quality over quantity. Institutional treasuries won’t chase yesterday’s meme mint; they’ll home in on assets with lore, liquidity, and long-term cultural staying power. Keep an eye on SEC filings and earnings calls, because public companies must disclose material NFT purchases, and those breadcrumbs could become the new whale-watching meta. Above all, stay nimble. Illiquid assets can shoot upward in a heartbeat, but they can plunge just as fast when liquidity evaporates.
Whether NFT treasury companies become the catalyst that reignites a full-blown bull run or fade into yet another fleeting hype cycle will depend on how well collectors, auditors, and public-market investors navigate the uncharted waters ahead. The concept might sound premature, but this space has never waited for the world to be ready.
For a deeper dive into the data, quotes, and nuances driving this emerging narrative, read Matt Medved’s original article, “Is the World Ready for NFT Treasury Companies?” published July 24, 2025.
NFT Treasury Companies: The Next Big Catalyst—or Just Another Narrative Pump?
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