EN | Bitcoin Treasury Management: A New Asset for Balance Sheets | MERGE Madrid 2025

Hi everyone and welcome to this panel on uh Bitcoin treasury management. So today we are joined by these uh three magnificent gentlemen. So we have Javi Gum and Alan. So we're going to do a round of introductions first. Uh we're going to go with them first and then I'll introduce myself and then we'll kick it off.

Awesome. Uh you wanted to start guys please.

All right. So I'm Alan Duran and I'm the contra manager for BBIT. So yeah. So I'm Guiam Bachmann, head of crypto uh treasury liquidity and phops at Roxom and Roxom TV.

And I'm Javier Pastor. I'm the head of OTC at B2. So it's a pleasure to be here.

Thank you guys. Well, so uh my name is Laa. I am La Stefania. I am the the founder and CEO of Conista VR. We do strategic communications and public relations for uh DeFi pro D5 projects as well as like web3 projects that are transitioning from uh traditional finance into digital finance.

And um yeah, today we're going to talk about Bitcoin treasury management. So we see that Bitcoin is moving from a speculative asset to strategic reserve. So now we're seeing that there's digital asset uh digital asset treasury companies that are emerging. We have seen MetaPlanet. We have seen uh micro strategy and now we're going to explore how what Bitcoin's role as a macro heads and corporate signaling tool as well as a programmable financial primitive.

And we're going to ask a key question here which is is this sustainable and what comes next when treasuries go on chain. So let's start with that one. Um at at from a macro lens perspective we've seen companies like Micro Strategy and Meta Planet turn themselves into Bitcoin proxy stocks. Uh, do you think that this is sustainable or will Treasury Bitcoin holdings eventually normalize into something more boring like gold once did?

Well, uh, I'm going to apologize with the English speakers because I'm going to swap to switch into Spanish to explain this, but uh, yeah, I apologize. So, Capital Bitcoin. The strategy. Moment. important.

Bitcoin No want to mech. That is great, Jav. Thank you very much. Do you guys want to complement that?

Yeah, I mean I can I can jump in if you want.

Yeah. Yeah, go ahead.

Um I mean I can switch in English, Spanish. Anyways, um I mean from by BTU I think we have super clear what is on on the regulatory frame. So um of course Bitcoin is at the end like our flagship always outside there and the mass adoption has increased more and more. So um we're going to be sure as uh Jav mentioned to make sure that it's under the frame of the regulatory compliance right to make it sustainable for a long term. So um at the end our goal from BTU is to be compliant to be to be offering let's say a a window or a bridge to the consumers

right

uh and I mean you also mentioned if if gold is getting boring and so on. So I think of course uh the the utility that bitcoin can provide has not compared to to them. So at the end we are offering that kind of advantage. So our our commitment with the regulators with the with the ecosystem in general is like how do we provide those tools and those things that also have you mentioned to make it safe and and accessible for everyone but also under under a sustainable long-term um projection in a way.

Definitely. Yeah, makes sense. And Gam

um yeah for me is the beginning of a structural shift. It will I mean bitcoin treasuries is a hot topic now but it's something that exists for many many years company as bit to me by bit sapo at their time had bitcoin treasuries the difference was there wasn't a name for that I think it will normalize I think it will be something that will be more and more common and exactly as they both said we need to be very stick on regulation understand what's going on to not make mistakes that could create a systemic um issue in in our in our ecosystem, but

it will normalize. I mean, it's it's part of of the shift that needs to happen, I think.

Right. That makes sense. Thank you. So, on volatility framing, uh, I want to move on to volatility has always been called Bitcoin's weakness. Can we flip that?

Could volatility be actually the feature that makes Bitcoin attractive?

If I may, volatility is not boring at all. I mean, it's not it's not it's not bad at all. It's it's what it makes. Uh I think it's the beauty of the markets actually. Um is also one of the things I I I thought is is the cost of the early adoption.

Um any market has this type of discrepancies at the beginning where it will create this volatility. What we need to understand is that this volatility what it means for your treasury it means optional yield. It means strategic reserve. what what exactly means and this is important is it's good the volatility can be very good as well I mean

so who was pioneering a monetizing volatility was that micro strategy Michael sa

yeah I would say it's a big one yeah

definitely

yeah metap all of them are are really and and if you discuss with Dylan from metaplanet he will tell you and trading volatility at this moment

yeah well that was a that was a very big turn from uh moving from re re real estate into uh holding Bitcoin really

yeah definitely Okay. So, I'm going to move on to a global risk hedging. Um, in this age where currency wars and capital controls, Bitcoin is becoming uh the first truly political treasury hedge. Uh, are corporates ready to take on that positioning? One to one USD.

Bitcoin expansion. Bitcoin is super important. Bitcoin. Definitely. Amen.

Yeah. So, um moving on to DATs as they're very very hot topic right now. Um the rise of DATs could mean that the balance sheet management itself becomes onchain and automated. How do you see this reshaping the the role of CFOs over the next decade? Um, you want to go first?

Yeah. Momento. No, Bitcoin. Bitcoin Treasury Company. for me is orchestration.

The word accounting on on a CFO, treasury, any financial position will switch to orchestration. We have everything on chain. Lots of problems from past are removed because of the blockchain. So now it's how you manage that and what Jav says being the orchestrator of all these new pieces is is the new shift for CFOs.

Ala

I mean uh for me I always put as example what is happening in Salvador right like how they manage the treasury or most of the reserves on bitcoin. So I think that kind of serve as an example of how can other not only public but also private institutions can manage by CFOs or whatever on the finance department the treasury on Bitcoin right like how do how do they should at least consider as as part of a must or like priority asset because at the end

is the future and is is is clearly going to be here for staying for a long term right so

like yeah like we the every entity either public, private, whatever it is that they should consider it as part of their management and treasury holding.

Yeah, most definitely. So, uh I want to follow up on uh having your thoughts earlier on capital market signaling. Do you think that holding Bitcoin is still a signal to investors to talent and markets or is that signal starting to fade as more institutions quietly start adding exposure? Bitcoin market. Mhm.

Bitcoin, Bitcoin. Yeah, definitely. Sorry. No. Correct.

Bitcoins. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. It's cultural.

It's strategic. I think investors are changing the world from we don't know what it is to we understand what Bitcoin is. I think developers started to say we are building on bitcoin that the meaning of we are building on bitcoin it's something that couple of years ago didn't exist. I think it switch on a cultural way where we are stronger for for this type of future that we need. I mean

is is how people is looking at bitcoin now exactly what you say

but on an investor level is is they understand now they they know what a treasury bitcoin treasury is. It has a name. It has a meaning. It has a

purpose.

A purpose. Exactly.

And Gam, also to follow up on that, uh, from a from a risk point of view, from a strategic point of view, um, do you agree with, uh, with, uh, the short short squeeze and, uh, that being one of the, uh, major weaknesses of of a DAT? Yeah. Or do you do you see any others?

I see others. I mean, this one is maybe the main obviously. I don't know the sensia in English how you say but how how a a treasury treats their value is is also very important on this we can we can the line is very very thin and can any any mistake can create a big disruption for us and lose of trust on what we are doing. So we need to be careful especially

these two guys that manage a lot of volume

on on controlling that things don't go out of control from our uh and I mean from Bitcoin treasures in general.

Yeah makes sense. So on accounting and policy bottlenecks um is the real bottleneck corporate appetite or the accounting treatment is fair value accounting if if fair value accounting were live today how quickly would we see Fortune 500 companies adopting it? Can I jump in quickly? Just I think I wouldn't call it like a bottleneck, but I think it's part of again going back to that commitment that we have with the once we got the license is like how do we prom our promise to the regulator as well like how do we make it uh secure, how do we make it safe, how do we make it sustainable. So I think it's no risk as long as we implement from our side um that kind of uh tools or like whatever we need infrastructure.

Yeah.

To make it uh yeah safe uh for for the users.

Mhm.

For me accounting is not really the bottleneck. It's psychological. We need to understand that treasuries were always trained on a fiat world with fiat uh view or or whatever you want to call it to optimize yield in fiat to work on fiat and and this is completely different. So

the the the the deeper bottleneck for me will be psychological and not the accounting. Accounting is something we will sort out with the blockchain. As I said the technology is there will not be the problem. The problem is how we how how everyone switch to bitcoin and not only fiat treasuries to optimize that yield on bitcoin is not the same.

So the the um psychological framework is uh is being uh basically designed from a fiat uh fiat as a money value reference

at least the fears the fears are thought on a fiat world and doesn't make too much sense to me. We need to switch that and and start thinking and this is another type of asset is is a network asset. It's not really

uh store of value store. It's a network asset is is different. So we need to start treating it different as well.

Yeah. Do you want to add anything on that? No, Bitcoin. Great. So uh on time horizons now looking at the future uh we see that corporate treasury is usually thinking quarters or years.

Bitcoin thinking halings. So what happens when you put a fourear asset into a threemon reporting culture? I

you I mean um I think you got me. You want to jump in?

Yeah.

Maybe maybe

I I had I had something about that

the the the over

when your when your asset starts valuating more it you shouldn't take it as a defense but as an offense. You are with your treasury you are going on offense. So the value itself or or or this will tell you how strong you are or how strong you should be is is I don't know if I'm clear but I'm I'm thinking in a on a on a war mode on a treasury war mode where you need to go either attack or defend against the market

and I think this means more offense than defense on this case.

Yeah, makes sense. Okay, great. Not long term

actually an easy one for for everyone on geographic location. So looking at the world, what differences do we see in the different geographic location locations? Wow. Um I always uh fly to these type of events and I I always think wow it's so different from one place to the other. You have for me latam is more a retail place and and you need to understand obviously something I spotted a couple of months ago is bitcoiners or or crypto in general loves history.

There is a reason behind we are trying to change the history. So and you need to also understand what's happening society. So latam Africa has another need than Europe or US or Asia. Maybe US is more of a show. Latam is more a retail here is super institutional.

You go to UK is very institutional. So that in terms of region and then the utilization itself, the type of network they use, the the the expectation behind each of the regions on on how to use that that coin, that network, that token, whatever uh we want to to talk about that I think there are many many different differences in in in lots of different aspects. I I used to say that Bitcoin is not for everyone but it's for everyone who wants it. Fiat is for everyone because they force us to use it. So

in this case you want to choose to use Bitcoin or not. You can still go and fiat and or other I always say Bitcoin but uh respect for the others. Um so it's more on yes you have differences big differences you need to understand on the society why those differences exist and and how to attack those. I think when you do a something like V to me

or by that have big presence in Argentina or Latam or Argentina specifically um I'm pretty sure they their teams first did an a super well or good job on understanding what was going on on that country. You cannot arrive on a country and think that every everything will work like in Europe. No, that you will fail. So yes.

Right. Okay. So but we're talking about like uh retail uh retail adoption, right? But in terms of Bitcoin treasury management, what differences do we see geographically speaking? Bitcoin.

Mhm. I mean ju just to complement what Gam said like I think either for retail or institutional side I think that the um the commitment right on the the goal on on Bitcoin is at the end is an asset that came and and is is the fundamental al for the ecosystem and for the space in general for web three. So um of course there's difference macroeconomically because of course as he mentioned like in Latin you have certain limitations and of course people try to find avenues or roots on how to access to certain u gateways or different paths for earning or getting certain utility but is it applicable for either private or institutional or or retail right so it's it's the same of course you you cannot compare like the macroeconomics in Europe or or APAC or in Asia that are more advanced that they have like more trading

culture. So it it's depending on

on of course all of those geopolitical. The only thing that I just want to mention quickly is I at least my goal is that we can democratize it in less because I think Bitcoin has become very geopolitical, right? So whatever is happening on politics and and things in in the US, in China, whatever are affecting in the rest of the world. So hopefully at least in Europe I'm hoping that we're not very dependent on those things that are collateral impacting or having an effect on beacon because at the end the utilities beyond those politics playing around.

So if we were to choose a a location in terms of like how beneficial it is gam which one would you choose

for what for a bitcoin treasury?

Yes. UK, Europe, I will stay here

for safety.

No, but because in I don't think LATAM is interested now on Bitcoin treasuries.

They have Bitcoin pockets. Uh they don't need Bitcoin treasury. It's not the the discussion. They are on another level. They are retail level.

So

yeah,

I will do it here and because it's where I think where the market will explode. I mean what's next is is and in the unconference in uh Bitcoin treasuries unconference in New York a couple of days ago the question was okay now you all bought Bitcoin now you all at Bitcoin treasuries guys what's next what are you going to do with that and that's the next question we need to do that's why for us for example in Roxom we decided to or we decided we thought we need to create an economy on Bitcoin because those Bitcoin treasuries need to do something with it and and is I think is the next question not really where or how but what are you going to do with it?

Great. And so lastly from micro from micro to a macro strategy uh treasury is often seen as passive but holding Bitcoin makes it strategic. So how do you think Bitcoin on balance sheets is going to change how companies raise capital

easier? Bitcoin. Okay. Bitcoin. Yeah.

Daniel. Do it. Go for it. This is not a financial advice.

Exactly. Exactly.

Don't buy Bitcoin.

Just want to make sure

to to close. I think the competence will be on or or the challenge will be on trustworthy and efficiency. How

how efficient you are as a treasury.

Yeah.

And how good you are on generating the trust over your treasury. And

there are it's a very easy math. do things well, do things, show everyone what you're doing.

That's I think the beauty of Bitcoin.

We need to be transparent, open, we need to work

on a different way as we did in traditional finance.

I think this is the real change and and it should be fine.

That is great. Well, so now lastly, I want a prediction from each one of you uh in one sentence of what you see trends wise for the next year. Uhchech. Great.

Predictions. Let me get my Oracles. Um

165.

No, no, not on price. Not anymore. I did. Maton just said it 150 or so. So, let's stay there.

And it's a good number for Bitcoin treasuries. I think is big explosion, big hype. We are all happy opening new Bitcoin treasuries. Normal. Let's it will be the year of normalization and and starting to get used to the term which exists since many years ago, but

we need to start

getting used to.

Great. Alan,

I mean predictions of course as a platform on web three I cannot of course disclose or do any statement on it but personally I will say that it's very promising and that is very I mean I'm looking forward because I think we're just in the in the starting point.

Perfect. Well, just to highlight nothing said here is financial advice first of all and I want to thank you guys for the amazing insights and thank you guys for joining us today. Thank you guys.