Dogecoin in Corporate Treasuries? CleanCore’s $173M Bet Raises Bigger Questions

NYSE-listed CleanCore Solutions has quietly become one of the largest corporate holders of Dogecoin — but its high-risk crypto accumulation strategy is raising as many eyebrows as it is valuations.

The company revealed it now holds over 710 million DOGE, inching closer to its target of one billion tokens. At Dogecoin’s current price near $0.245, that’s roughly $173 million in holdings, including more than $20 million in unrealized gains. The move, CleanCore says, is part of its plan to “scale responsibly with transparency and resilience.”

But the market doesn’t seem fully convinced. CleanCore’s stock — trading under ticker ZONE — fell 8.44% on Tuesday, closing at $2.06, despite the upbeat treasury announcement.

A Bold Treasury Strategy — or a Volatile Gamble?

According to the company’s statement, CleanCore aims to grow its crypto reserves while maintaining a healthy market-value-to-net-asset-value (mNAV) ratio — a metric used to gauge the balance between its market capitalization and its underlying asset value.

It’s an unusual measure for a traditional firm, and it underscores how crypto volatility is creeping into conventional balance-sheet math.

CEO Clayton Adams framed the strategy as long-term value building:

“Our treasury vision is aligned with shareholder value, and we’re building Dogecoin exposure as a disciplined, transparent asset strategy.”

Still, not everyone sees it that way. Critics note that smaller firms often take oversized risks when dipping into crypto treasuries — a concern that Standard Chartered recently echoed in its warning about mNAV collapse among digital-asset-heavy companies.

In plain terms: when crypto markets swing, small-cap balance sheets can buckle.

Market Reaction Says It All

CleanCore’s stock reaction tells a more sobering story. Investors appear uneasy about a small-cap company betting its liquidity on one of crypto’s most unpredictable assets.

Dogecoin, still trading over 80% below its all-time high, remains largely speculative — its price moves more on social sentiment than financial fundamentals.

So when CleanCore claims its strategy is “responsible accumulation,” markets hear “high volatility exposure” instead.

As one market analyst put it:

“Dogecoin in a corporate treasury isn’t the same as Bitcoin. It’s like holding Tesla stock because Elon tweets — but on steroids.”

mNAV: The Metric That Doesn’t Tell the Whole Story

The company’s focus on mNAV also drew skepticism from research heads like Greg Cipolaro of NYDIG, who recently argued that the metric fails to capture crypto treasury risk accurately.

He pointed out that mNAV ignores convertible debt and overstates strength when market value is inflated by speculative holdings — exactly the kind of distortion volatile assets like DOGE can cause.

In other words, a healthy mNAV today could crumble overnight if Dogecoin slips by 20%. That’s not accounting transparency — that’s volatility dressed as valuation.

A Broader Trend: Small Firms Chasing the “MicroStrategy Effect”

CleanCore’s move mirrors a growing ambition among smaller firms to replicate the MicroStrategy model — turning crypto into a balance-sheet bet.

But unlike Bitcoin, Dogecoin doesn’t have the same institutional or regulatory footing. It’s a community-driven meme coin that thrives on cultural momentum, not monetary policy.

That makes CleanCore’s position both bold and fragile. If DOGE rallies in Q4, it could supercharge the company’s balance sheet. If not, it could force a painful markdown that wipes out paper profits in days.

The Bigger Picture

CleanCore’s Dogecoin bet isn’t just another corporate headline — it’s a signal of shifting psychology in traditional markets.

Companies once hesitant to touch crypto are now experimenting openly, even with assets that started as internet jokes.

That normalization cuts both ways. It shows how far crypto has come — and how blurred the line between innovation and speculation has become.

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