Who are the companies hoarding bitcoin?
Corporate treasuries now hold more than 3% of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency, a stash worth $87bn
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Philip Stafford in London
Published3 hours ago
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Companies around the world are on a bitcoin buying spree, as executives — often in industries that have nothing to do with cryptocurrency — mimic a stockpiling strategy that has produced explosive share price growth.
Over the past year, the number of bitcoin held by companies has jumped nearly 170 per cent. A total of about 130 listed firms hold a combined $87bn of bitcoin, according to data from BitcoinTreasuries.net, equivalent to about 3.2 per cent of all the bitcoins that will ever exist.
They are following a trail blazed by billionaire Michael Saylor, who made software company MicroStrategy — now known as Strategy — a $100bn company by turning it into a bitcoin-buying vehicle whose market capitalisation is 1.6 times the value of the crypto it holds.
While Saylor’s firm still accounts for the lion’s share of corporate holdings, companies in the US, Japan and France are following his lead in selling shares and bonds and ploughing the proceeds into bitcoin. This has turned corporate holders into a major force in crypto markets, helping propel the token’s price to a record high above $110,000 in recent weeks.
Among those pivoting to a “bitcoin treasury” strategy is the Trump family media firm, joining the rush to capitalise on the president’s pledge to make the US “the crypto capital of the world”. While some firms’ main focus is on buying bitcoin, others are hoarding it while still running other, larger business lines.
Many of these firms — like Strategy — are worth much more than the value of the crypto they own. That premium is a sign of investors’ faith that these companies can raise money to buy bitcoin, drive their stock prices higher and raise more money — a virtuous circle dubbed an “infinite money glitch” by some proponents.
But bitcoin treasuries are yet to be tested by a prolonged downturn in the cryptocurrency’s price, which could leave some firms struggling to repay debt they have taken on to build up their stockpiles.
Below are the companies that hold the most bitcoin, according to a Financial Times analysis of regulatory filings and website Bitcointreasuries.net. Crypto companies that hold large amounts of the token as part of their business operations, such as exchanges or miners, have been excluded.
Strategy
592,100
Number of bitcoins held
Few took Michael Saylor, co-founder and then chief executive of MicroStrategy, seriously when in August 2020 he said his company would sell new equity to buy and hold bitcoin as its primary reserve asset. To the surprise of many, Strategy’s market capitalisation soared faster than bitcoin itself as its bet paid off. Saylor then upped the pace of purchases from October last year, unveiling plans to raise $42bn, split equally between equity and debt over three years. Posting on X last week that the firm’s “business strategy is 100 per cent Bitcoin. Forever,” he has said he was confident that Strategy would not collapse even if there was a 90 per cent fall in the bitcoin price and it then stayed around those levels for four years. Shareholders would, however, be hit, he admits.
Twenty One Capital
37,230
Number of bitcoins held
Created in May through a merger between Cantor Equity Partners — run by Brandon Lutnick, son of US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick — and a special purpose acquisition vehicle, Twenty One has the ambitious goal of supplanting Strategy as the pre-eminent listed bitcoin acquisition company. The firm is backed by stablecoin operator Tether and Japan’s SoftBank. When the deal is concluded it will begin with 42,000 bitcoin that Tether is buying on Twenty One’s behalf. So far it has bought more than 37,000, worth nearly $3.9bn.
Tesla
11,509
Number of bitcoins held
Tesla first bought $1.5bn in bitcoin in 2021 as it prepared to begin accepting payments in the cryptocurrency. Chief executive Elon Musk subsequently abandoned those plans, ditching 75 per cent of the company’s bitcoin the following year, but the electric vehicle maker has once again become a significant holder after adding to its stockpile more recently. Tesla last year reported a $600mn mark-to-market income boost on its crypto hoard, owing to a change in accounting rules.
Metaplanet
10,000
Number of bitcoins held
Once a hotel developer, Tokyo-based Metaplanet underwent “a strategic pivot” last year, according to company president Simon Gerovich, and has emerged as one of the most enthusiastic imitators of Strategy’s model. The firm counts Eric Trump, son of the US president, as a strategic adviser and has plans to increase its bitcoin holdings to 210,000 by the end of 2027. It has inspired other small companies to use new shares to accumulate bitcoin, including KindlyMD, a US firm that is merging with BTC Inc to form Nakamoto Holdings.
Block
8,584
Number of bitcoins held
Co-founded and chaired by former Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey, Block first bought bitcoin in October 2020 when the payments company was known as Square. But just over a year ago it set out to systematically invest 10 per cent of its monthly gross profits from its bitcoin products back into the token as an investment. Dorsey has said he believes bitcoin will “ultimately become the native currency of the internet” and has published details of its buying programme so other companies can follow suit.
Next Technology Holding
5,833
Number of bitcoins held
The Chinese AI software company, once known as WeTrade Group, has used bitcoin purchases to provide an immediate boost to its share price. In April, US stock market operator Nasdaq warned that it was in danger of being kicked off the exchange because its stock was failing to comply with minimum price levels. At the end of last year, it held just 833 bitcoins but the numbers swelled in the first quarter of this year after it issued shares and warrants to pay for a 2023 deal it had struck with an unnamed seller to buy bitcoin.
Gamestop
4,710
Number of bitcoins held
It was only at the end of May that the video game retailer, synonymous with 2021’s memestock craze, made its first purchase of bitcoin. The $512mn acquisition was made possible by a private offering of $1.3bn in convertible bonds. Although its shares tumbled more than 10 per cent in the wake of the announcement, it returned to the market this month with another convertible bond offering, of $1.75bn, and managed to increase this to $2.25bn.
Semler Scientific
4,449
Number of bitcoins held
The US healthcare technology group is the exception to the theory that buying bitcoin will put a company’s share price on a premium akin to Strategy’s. Semler adopted the cryptocurrency as its primary treasury reserve in May last year, using excess cash to fund purchases, and increased the pace of buying from November 2024, using its cash as well as newly issued shares and $100mn of convertible bonds. While its shares are higher than when it announced its plan, it has not enjoyed the same boost as some other bitcoin buyers, with its market capitalisation roughly the same as the net asset value of its bitcoin.
Trump Media & Technology Group
0
Number of bitcoins held
Bitcoin is “an apex instrument of financial freedom”, according to the media group behind the Truth Social app, which is planning to raise $2.5bn to create a bitcoin treasury. Although it has yet to lay out the timings of any purchases, at current prices, it could become one of the largest corporate holders of the currency. The move comes as the Trump administration establishes a regulatory framework for the crypto industry that is expected to support its growth.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2025. All rights reserved.
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Le Gun
11 minutes ago
I think BTC is here to stay and will only grow in adoption. Not 100% sure but 75%. There's some fundamental forces at play here that no-one involved really understands. A small allocation is probably wise, say 5-10% of what you've got. Certainly the buying power of those who have purchased this stuff over the last few years has increased radically compared to those whom have not and that looks set to continue for a long while unless there is some form of mass hack.
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am
49 minutes ago
Great article!
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JamesParis
55 minutes ago
Gosh, I hope they don’t hoard all of the bitcoin! That would mean there is no more bitcoin for me, and I really need it for my day to day activities.
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am
40 minutes ago
In reply to JamesParis
It must be painful to be so perpetually and ferociously wrong about something…
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Debt amnesty too
29 minutes ago
In reply to am
where is JamesParis wrong in pointing out that there are zero day to day uses for these things?
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am
15 minutes ago
In reply to Debt amnesty too
The use case so far has been: store of value against the perpetual inflation of our Fiat currencies. It’s done a pretty good job at that and will continue to do so as Fiat is increasingly in a dead end.
Increasingly the use case is going to become as a medium of exchange. There is nothing technically preventing this. The reason there has been little demand so far, is that most owners have been either long-term holders or traders, neither of whom want to spend Bitcoin. This will change over time and the solutions are already being built out.
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Nucleartool
57 minutes ago
(Edited)
Betting heavily on the best performing asset in the world to keep going up for another 15 years seems like a smart move to me. Just buy as much as you possibly can and let it do the hard work is the literal ‘strategy’. It’s not more complicated than that.
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am
38 minutes ago
In reply to Nucleartool
Amazon performed pretty well for the 15 years after the Dotcom bust. And the 10 years following that. And so on.
If you’re betting on a secular shift, you don’t want to sell your position for a long time.
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Bob, Freelancer
58 minutes ago
Seems to be a variation on "I can't think of an effective way to invest in my core business so I will do a share buy-back to boost my bonus",
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undefined
1 hour ago
A nice hedge against inflation, don't overthink it.
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Voodoo Child
1 hour ago
One word - Ponzi
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(307261) 2002 MS4
1 hour ago
Alphaville’s editor has the popcorn ready ??
Nothing better than watching CFOs YOLO company treasuries into magic internet coins for “balance sheet optimisation”
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Humble investor
1 hour ago
It's incredible, but the drivers behind the 17th-century tulip mania are still present today. Only the name differs.
Recommend4Reply
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Debt amnesty too
2 hours ago
The GameStop purchases make me think of a CDO squared. They were successful too ??
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Please settle all grudges
2 hours ago
"Who?"
The question is more why?
What functionality have vehicles without any underlying value?
What do they want to do with it?
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Golovkin
2 hours ago
In reply to Please settle all grudges
Watch it grow in value long term.
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Manzikert
2 hours ago
In reply to Please settle all grudges
Because it’s used as currency throughout the world, replacing “fiat” currencies. Oh, no - it isn’t, anywhere.
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Von Schenk
2 hours ago
In reply to Please settle all grudges
speculative… like buying up Renoirs for a few francs when he was just starting to get known… would he become an old master when he was dead & gone? Would you go into debt to acquire or just use risk capital …
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