US Regulators Examine Trading Patterns Before Firms Announced Crypto Treasury Holdings: Report

US regulators are investigating sharp swings in stock prices before companies revealed plans to raise funds for crypto treasury purchases, the Wall Street Journal reported on ￰0￱ Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority have contacted some of the more than 200 firms that announced crypto treasury strategies this year, sources told the ￰1￱ warned companies about possible breaches of rules against selectively sharing material non-public ￰2￱ scrutiny comes amid a wave of companies adopting crypto treasury ￰3￱ by the success of Strategy, formerly known as MicroStrategy, dozens of firms outside the crypto sector have announced plans to raise capital specifically for Bitcoin ￰4￱ to the Wall Street Journal, ￰5￱ have flagged unusual trading activity ahead of crypto-treasury announcements by some ￰6￱ SEC and Finra suspect potential violations of Regulation Fair Disclosure (Reg FD) and have issued inquiry letters, which… — Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) September 25, 2025 Crypto Treasury Craze Fuels $20 Billion Fundraising Wave The trend accelerated in early 2025 after a Trump administration executive order established a national strategic Bitcoin ￰7￱ then, more than 60 companies, from software and gaming to biotech and energy, have unveiled plans to put portions of their balance sheets into crypto.

Together, they have targeted over $20b in fundraising through stock offerings, convertible debt and private ￰8￱ aim has been to hedge against inflation, attract younger investors and mirror the outsized gains seen by early movers. However, stock prices often soared in the days before announcements, sometimes doubling or ￰9￱ unexplained moves have raised questions about whether insiders leaked details or tipped investors, prompting regulators to ￰10￱ Crypto Buys Spur Stock Surges, Draw SEC And FINRA Attention Trump Media and Technology Group is among the most high-profile ￰11￱ of its May 27 disclosure that it planned to raise $2.5b for a Bitcoin treasury , its shares posted a week of unusual ￰12￱ announcement pushed the firm into the ranks of the largest corporate Bitcoin holders, alongside Strategy and Marathon Digital Holdings, but regulators quickly flagged suspicious ￰13￱ followed a similar ￰14￱ retailer revealed a $500m Bitcoin buy on May 28, but its shares had already surged 40% in the three trading sessions before the ￰15￱ officials are examining clustered buy orders tied to company vendors, while FINRA is reviewing broker ￰16￱ firm MEI Pharma also drew attention in July when it announced plans to allocate a quarter of its cash reserves to ￰17￱ stock nearly doubled in four days leading up to the filing, with unusually heavy call option ￰18￱ are reviewing whether investor briefings breached disclosure rules.

Debt-Funded Buybacks Signal Strain On Firms Chasing Crypto Gains SharpLink Gaming, a small-cap marketing firm specializing in sports betting and iGaming affiliates, made a major shift into an Ethereum treasury strategy in ￰19￱ May 28, its shares spiked roughly 433% during intraday trading , market data ￰20￱ craze for crypto treasuries that swept through small and mid-cap firms is already showing ￰21￱ companies that only months ago trumpeted crypto holdings are now launching share buybacks , often using debt, to counter sliding stock ￰22￱ some cases, market values have fallen below the worth of the Bitcoin on their balance ￰23￱ gap signals rising investor doubt about whether crypto treasury strategies can deliver long-term value.