Markets are always looking for the next big trade. In 2026, I believe trading will be a new wrinkle to traditional commodity trading in which investors go long positions in digital asset treasury (DAT) companies and short futures contracts. While more sophisticated market participants have generated positive returns with the long ETF and short futures strategy for bitcoin and ether, this time a new variant of basic trading will include DATs and expand to a wide range of crypto projects commonly referred to as “alts.”
Digital Asset Treasuries (DATs) had their breakout year in 2025. Typically, public companies, DATs issue and sell public shares and use the proceeds from the sale to purchase a dedicated crypto asset. By doing so, they attempt to increase their crypto tokens per share. So, for the typical investor, DATs can be traded, held and hedged like any other stock. This eliminates operational complexity or regulatory uncertainty for traditional investors who are not comfortable managing native crypto assets. For this reason, DATs emerge as a bridge between crypto markets and traditional finance.
What makes DATs particularly powerful is their flexibility. These companies can deploy a wide range of cash flow and yield strategies with the goal of increasing their multiple to net asset value, or “mNAV.” By maximizing token ownership per share, DATs seek to outperform their underlying token. A successful example is the strategy of Michael Saylor, who saw his stock price increase 22 times since he started buying bitcoin from TKYEAR through September 2025, while the digital asset he accumulates, bitcoin, appreciated almost 10 times during the same period.
But volatility works both ways. Recent market movements have caused some DATs to decline and mNAVs to decline. Even with the operational ease and regulatory clarity offered by the structure, many DATs remain out of reach for many investors due to their volatility. To date, hedging options have been limited due to restrictions imposed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), regulated futures contracts for the preponderance of the tokens.
The Missing Link: Futures Contracts Regulated by the CFTC
In traditional markets, futures are contracts that allow investors to set the future price of an asset. For centuries, futures contracts have played an important role in risk management, providing institutions with a way to hedge their exposure, speculate on price movements, and move efficiently. In crypto, however, regulated futures only exist for a small subset of tokens, like bitcoin and ether.
The lack of comprehensive crypto futures can be largely blamed on former SEC Chairman Gary Gensler. During his tenure, Chairman Gensler claimed that most crypto assets were securities. Futures contracts are commodity derivatives which would have placed them outside of its jurisdiction and control. So, Gensler suppressed their launch, depriving investors of important risk management tools.
The world has changed. As U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration aggressively pursues its agenda to make the United States the “crypto capital of the world,” new SEC Chairman Paul Atkins has made clear through numerous public statements that “most crypto tokens are not securities.”
With this regulatory hurdle removed, futures are now in the spotlight. These futures contracts are not just standalone products: they are a gateway to broader market access. Through its guidance on generic listing standards, the SEC recently clarified that tokens with six months of futures trading can more easily be listed as ETFs, opening the door to institutional capital and mainstream adoption. And as crypto futures become liquid, long DAT and short futures strategy becomes possible.
DAT Basic Trading
A basis trade occurs when an investor buys an asset in the spot market and simultaneously sells a futures contract on the same asset, with the aim of profiting from the price difference – or “basis” – between the two. “Contango” occurs when future prices are higher than the spot price. In these market conditions, basic trading strategies tend to be profitable.
DATs hold, stake, and even rollover digital assets, generating real on-chain yield. By purchasing their shares, investors gain exposure to this cryptocurrency and its yield. By shorting the corresponding futures contracts of DAT crypto holdings, investors hedge the price fluctuations of these assets. What remains is the gap between the future price of the token and the spot holdings of the DAT. When a DAT trades below its NAV or when the future price of the token (or “total return” token, which is a future that includes the staking return) is higher than the DAT’s crypto spot holdings, investors pocket a stable and relatively market-neutral return. Although it is difficult to predict the size of the basis, for alternative assets the differences can be more pronounced than for other assets, resulting in a higher return for the investor.
The advantage is clear. When mNAVs are rising and futures are in contango, trading based on the DAT could generate attractive returns. But like any strategy, there are many risks and downside scenarios. Perhaps the most obvious is a scenario in which mNAV declines precipitously and losses on the equity side are not fully offset by the forward hedge. Additionally, DATs that trade below NAV may become obvious takeover targets. While this could erase losses by restoring mNAV, acquirers could move to another asset class, which would require an unwinding of the transaction.
For those sensitive to these risks, ETFs, whose mNAVs are designed to remain stable at par, may be preferred over DATs when it comes to executing a trade on a regulated basis. But full alternative ETFs, as well as futures on the underlying asset, are just starting to come online. So, in the meantime, the bridge offered by DATs plays an important role in educating traditional investors about the possibilities as crypto investing becomes more normalized.
As regulated futures proliferate through alterations, the Long DAT, Short Futures trading could become an ideal way for Wall Street to capture crypto yield without touching a portfolio or suffering the intense volatility that defines crypto as an asset class. In 2026, I think it will be the job of the year.
