How a bitcoin treasury strategy boosted the small-cap food manufacturer DayDayCook

Spring 2025 marked a turning point for investors in DayDayCook (DDC), a Hong Kong-based small-cap company specializing in the production and sale of ready-made Asian meals. After losing nearly all of its value over the prior 18 months, the company’s stock has surged fourfold since May following the announcement of a bitcoin treasury strategy. While crypto has moved beyond being a trend to become a recognized component of the broader financial system, analysts at Freedom Finance Global note that there remains no fundamental or sustainable factor to support a long-term appreciation in its value.

DDC was founded in 2012 in Hong Kong by entrepreneur Norma Chu as an "online platform which distributed food recipes and culinary content." The company initially monetized through advertising before expanding into mainland China in 2015. Its mainland entity, DDC Shanghai, engaged in software development, food distribution, and the production and sale of cooking content.

DDC pivoted to its current business model, developing and selling ready-made Asian meals, in 2019. The company targets millennial and Gen Z consumers, leveraging social media and e-commerce platforms to promote its products.

According to DDC, demand for ready-to-eat meals has increased substantially due to the growth of food delivery services, shifting consumer habits away from home cooking, and rising per capita GDP. The company notes that Asian food manufacturers, thanks to established supply chains, are able to offer competitive pricing in North America and Europe, even after factoring in logistics costs.

DDC entered the U.S. market in 2022 through Yamibuy.com, a U.S.-based online retailer specializing in Asian groceries. In 2023, it expanded its presence further by acquiring Nona Lim, a U.S. brand known for its Asian-style noodles and soup bases.

DDC went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 2023, but the IPO drew limited investor interest. The company priced at $8.50 per share, 10% below the lower end of the indicative price range. In an attempt to stabilize its share price, DDC started a buyback program, though the move failed to stem the stock’s decline.

The following year, 2024, proved turbulent for DDC shareholders. The stock continued to lose value, and the NYSE cited the company for at least three violations, any of which could have triggered a delisting. These included a deficiency in stockholders’ equity, failure to file the 2023 annual report on time, and noncompliance with the minimum share price requirement of $1. By January 2025, DDC had addressed two of the three violations: It announced a shareholder equity increase and released its 2023 results.

However, in April 2025, the company suffered another setback: On April 4, Trump announced rolled out his tariff plans, triggering a broad selloff in which DDC shares plunged more than 40% in a single session, falling below $0.10 apiece. The NYSE halted trading.

In response, the company convened an emergency board meeting and approved a 1-for-25 reverse stock split. Trading in DDC shares resumed on April 21. As of the close yesterday, August 5, the stock was trading at $12.00 per share, marking a 482% gain over the previous three month average.

On May 15, DDC announced a bitcoin accumulation strategy. "The financial system is more fragile than most businesses are willing to acknowledge. Currency risk. Inflation. Asset bubbles. In this environment, holding only fiat isn’t just conservative – it’s potentially detrimental," said Chu in a letter published May 27, which she called "The Bitcoin Manifesto." In total, DDC is set to buy hundreds of bitcoins by the end of 2025 so as to "evolve to be future-proof," wrote its founder in late July. 

Earlier, the company launched the DDC Bitcoin Influence Collective, an initiative to bring together crypto influencers in support of DDC's efforts. It aims to "cultivate a robust, engaged network of advocates and stakeholders, both online and offline." 

DDC’s pivot into crypto is reshaping investor perception of the company, according to Freedom Finance Global. Investors are increasingly viewing the company’s stock as a proxy for bitcoin. While it would be inappropriate to consider DDC solely as a crypto play, Freedom Finance Global accepts that treating the stock as a bitcoin-sensitive asset is a valid approach for the short term.

Crypto has evolved from a passing trend into a part of the global economy, according to Freedom Finance Global. While some companies were early to recognize this shift, others are only now beginning to formulate strategies around digital assets.

The first publicly traded company to adopt bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset was enterprise software firm MicroStrategy, now rebranded as Strategy, which made its initial purchases in 2020, CNBC reported. Today, the company holds approximately 3% of all bitcoins in circulation, with holdings valued at around $72 billion. In 2021, under CEO Elon Musk, Tesla followed suit, purchasing bitcoin for its corporate reserves. Several small-cap firms have also ventured into crypto, including Acurx Pharmaceuticals, a developer of antibiotics, and PSQ Holdings, parent of the conservative marketplace PublicSquare, as well as a fintech and hygiene products manufacturer EveryLife. EveryLife argued that digital assets have matured from niche investments into recognized financial instruments. The company cited growing institutional acceptance, including the launch of bitcoin and crypto ETFs, as a factor increasing accessibility and reinforcing the role of digital assets in traditional capital markets.

Since they launched in early 2024, cumulative net inflows into bitcoin funds total more than $53 billion. Freedom Finance Global notes that bitcoin is increasingly viewed as a reserve asset, while transaction volumes in stablecoins alone have now surpassed global trade flows, which total $27 trillion a year. The growing adoption of bitcoin by corporate treasuries is considered a key catalyst for the cryptocurrency, with investors closely monitoring which companies may be next to add BTC to their balance sheets, CNBC reported.

However, regulatory uncertainty continues to weigh on broader institutional adoption. Freedom Finance Global points out that traditional banks remain cautious toward crypto transactions. While gold and the U.S. dollar are unlikely to fall out of favor, crypto offers unique advantages, including high transaction speed and low costs for transfers and storage. “Basically, you can secure a loan with crypto without ever setting foot in a bank,” Freedom Finance Global notes. Additionally, blockchain-based transactions are less scrutinized than traditional cross-border remittances, which may become a strategic advantage during trade conflicts. Despite the lack of a widely accepted theory explaining bitcoin’s long-term appreciation, investors are increasingly viewing crypto instruments, including ETFs, as a viable long-term investment, analysts at Freedom Finance Global conclude.

The AI translation of this story was reviewed by a human editor.