It’s a historic record: publicly traded companies alone own more than one million Bitcoins. Among them are Tesla and Coinbase, but above all Bitcoin Treasury Companies such as Strategy, Capital B, and MetaPlanet. Analysis.
Publicly traded companies have accumulated one million Bitcoins
It’s official: the number of Bitcoins held by public companies exceeds one million, with 1,000,442 Bitcoins held at the time of the record.
In 2020, when Michael Saylor began his Bitcoin Treasury Company strategy, it was not the first publicly traded company to hold Bitcoin. For example, Bitcoin mining company Riot Platforms has been publicly traded since 2003 and has held Bitcoin in its treasury since January 1, 2020—several months before Strategy—according to information from Bitcoin Treasuries.
However, Michael Saylor started a movement that would change the cryptocurrency market. With MicroStrategy, now Strategy, he began accumulating Bitcoin in his company’s treasury, giving investors a way to buy digital gold in a roundabout way.
Rather than going through Web3 platforms, such as CEXs or DEXs, or ETFs, which would only arrive on the spot market four years later, Michael Saylor made it possible for investors to buy Bitcoin as easily as a stock.
But his genius didn’t stop there. By raising more debt to buy more Bitcoin, Michael Saylor systematically increased the yield, i.e., the number of Bitcoin per share.
In other words, even though there are more shares, the “concentration” in Bitcoin increases; the value is not diluted. Combined with an increase in the price of Bitcoin, this represents two factors driving up the price of a single asset: Strategy stock (MSTR).
Bitcoin Treasury Companies, a model for export
That was all it took for Michael Saylor’s model to become a phenomenal success.
Although considered crazy at first, Michael Saylor was quickly imitated. In five years, the man who made his fortune and then lost everything during the internet bubble found himself catapulted to the status of cryptocurrency star, with an estimated personal fortune of $8.8 billion. Bitcoin Treasury Companies quickly multiplied, first in the United States, then in Japan with MetaPlanet.
Although other companies hold Bitcoin in their treasuries, such as Tesla and Coinbase, they did not follow the Bitcoin Treasury model. In Europe, France and Germany have such companies. The German Bitcoin Group SE and the French The Blockchain Group, renamed Capital B, with Alexandre Laizet at the helm of the Bitcoin purchasing strategy.
This French company saw figures from the ecosystem participate in the first fundraisers, such as Yves Choueifaty, founder and president of TOBAM, and Adam Back, CEO of Blockstream—who rubbed shoulders with Satoshi Nakamoto himself.
The movement launched by Michael Saylor quickly gained momentum, to the point where “zombie” companies were cheerfully transformed into Bitcoin Treasury Companies, with a change of name and branding.
In any case, with this historic milestone of one million, Bitcoin Treasury Companies are now part of the ecosystem. Now that this milestone has been reached, the next goals are ambitious. Michael Saylor wants to accumulate 7% of the total Bitcoin supply according to Decrypt, while Capital B is aiming for 1%.
Given that countries such as El Salvador are also in the race, that companies such as Blackrock are accumulating Bitcoin to satisfy the thirst for ETFs, and that CEXs have large reserves, what will be left for investors in the markets?
The question is worth asking, because that is where the price of Bitcoin is determined.
