Veteran activist Eric Jackson bets on a new kind of crypto treasury
Eric Jackson just flipped the script on corporate finance.
The activist investor—known for shaking up traditional boardrooms—is now targeting a different kind of balance sheet: the crypto treasury. His latest play isn't about stock buybacks or dividend hikes. It's about convincing companies to treat their digital asset holdings not as speculative gambles, but as strategic war chests.
The New Playbook
Forget passive HODLing. Jackson's blueprint calls for active treasury management—using crypto assets to fund operations, secure loans, and even execute on-chain acquisitions. It turns idle tokens into working capital, bypassing banks and their notoriously slow wires. The goal? To build a self-sustaining financial engine that runs on crypto rails.
Why This Changes Everything
This isn't just a niche strategy for crypto-native firms. Jackson's bet is that mainstream corporations will follow. Imagine a tech giant using its Bitcoin reserves to collateralize a real estate purchase, or a gaming studio funding its payroll directly from an Ethereum wallet. It cuts out intermediaries, reduces friction, and could redefine what 'corporate liquidity' even means.
The Finance World's Cynical Shrug
Of course, Wall Street veterans are watching with a mix of curiosity and contempt. To them, it's another attempt to put lipstick on the volatile pig that is crypto—a sector where 'treasury management' can still look a lot like hoping your magic internet money goes up. One fund manager quipped, 'It's a bold strategy. Let's see if it works better than their last 'disruptive' idea: losing shareholder money on ape JPEGs.'
Jackson's move signals a maturation. The question is no longer if companies will hold crypto, but how intelligently they'll wield it. The era of the crypto treasury is here. The smart money is figuring out how to make it work.
SRx moves to buy EMJ Crypto Technologies and reshape treasury models
On Tuesday, SRx Health Solutions announced it WOULD buy EMJ Crypto Technologies. The combined firm would start early next year if the deal closes.
Eric would become the CEO. The DAT will hold Bitcoin, Ether, and other tokens. He said the firm may also put a small share of its capital into stocks, including names like Carvana. He is not shy about mixing assets when it fits.
He plans to hedge positions with puts and calls to add income and reduce risk. “It’s almost like you are running a mini hedge fund within your treasury company to make some income,” he said. The setup is aimed at stopping the painful drawdowns that hit other DAT firms as market prices turned lower this year.
SRx shareholder Keystone Capital Partners has pledged up to $1 billion for 2.5 billion more shares if the company wants to raise capital. Eric said Keystone is backing the “Gen-2 treasury operating system strategy.”
Michael Saylor’s Strategy built the original DAT model in 2020 when it started buying large amounts of Bitcoin. Other companies joined the trend this year, adding Bitcoin, Ether, Solana, and more.
The stocks exploded higher while crypto was booming. But the rally faded. Share prices dropped fast. Retail investors who jumped in during the HYPE cycle ended up stuck with losses.
Since bitcoin hit its record high in October, it has dropped about 30%. Strategy’s shares are down 44% this year. Its mNAV ratio fell from more than 2 to about 1.1 as its token value dropped faster than the market cap.
Eric builds positions, expands activism, and plans tech for other DAT firms
Eric runs the $10 million EMJ Capital hedge fund in Toronto. He built his reputation pushing changes at companies like Yahoo and Opendoor.
In 2023, he bought Carvana stock at $15. It closed at nearly $448 on Monday. He started buying Opendoor again in July when it traded at 73 cents. It is now worth $6.50. He is also part of the “Open Army,” a retail group trying to revive the business.
He said his activism at Opendoor included pushing out the former CEO. He also holds shares in Nextdoor Holdings, which builds neighborhood-based social networks.
Eric plans to offer some of EMJ’s in-house tech to other DAT companies so they can manage hedging and risk.
He said the firm’s value will not come from mNAV. “We believe that we won’t be valued on mNAV, but on the value we create for others,” said Eric.
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