Digital asset treasury (DAT) companies, which hold Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency as a core balance sheet asset, are the main event at the Bitcoin Conference 2026 in Las Vegas this summer. After months of severe drawdowns, nearly all firms that loaded their balance sheets with Bitcoin are still standing. BTC Inc. head of growth partnerships, Sean Hagan, highlighted that DATs are the storyline he is watching most closely ahead of the event. The model was pioneered by Michael Saylor's Strategy and introduced to Japan by MetaPlanet, where smaller firms followed. Hagan highlighted the evolution of the funding model, starting with a perpetual preferred stock offering called STRC that offers regular income from the dividend and exposure to Strategy's Bitcoin-heavy balance sheet. The company announced on April 20th that they would be buying an additional 34,164 BTC, bringing their total to 815,061 total Bitcoin, worth over $61 billion.