Corporate Bitcoin Holdings Double in Two Months

Corporate treasuries have increasingly embraced Bitcoin as a strategic asset, with at least 61 companies now holding a combined 3.2% of the total Bitcoin supply. This trend, highlighted in a report by Standard Chartered, underscores the growing acceptance of Bitcoin among publicly listed companies worldwide, which collectively own 673,897 Bitcoin.

Geoff Kendrick, the global head of digital asset research at Standard Chartered, emphasized the implications of Bitcoin's rising popularity as a treasury asset. While the current trend adds to the buying pressure for Bitcoin, Kendrick warned of potential risks associated with rapid corporate adoption. He noted that 58 out of the 61 analyzed corporate treasuries have net asset value (NAV) multiples above 1, indicating that their market valuation exceeds the value of their net assets. This situation, Kendrick believes, is currently justified by market inefficiencies such as regulatory hurdles and conservative investment processes. However, as these inefficiencies are addressed, Bitcoin treasuries could become a source of downside price pressure and volatility.

Kendrick also observed that a significant portion of companies imitating Strategy, a prominent Bitcoin accumulator, have recently started accumulating Bitcoin. The holdings of these 60 companies have doubled in the past two months, from below 50,000 BTC to about 100,000 BTC. This pace of buying outstrips that of Strategy, which added 74,000 BTC in the same period, compared to 47,000 BTC by other companies.

The report comes amid a wave of new companies adopting Bitcoin strategies. Canada’s renewable energy developer SolarBank officially announced its Bitcoin treasury strategy, reporting that it has filed an account opening application with Coinbase Prime for secure custody and related services. On the same day, Paris-based crypto firm Blockchain Group announced a $68 million Bitcoin acquisition, following Norwegian crypto brokerage firm K33, which raised $6.2 million to buy BTC in late May.

Despite concerns about the risks of increasing corporate Bitcoin adoption, Strategy remains optimistic about its Bitcoin holdings. According to Strategy co-founder Michael Saylor, the company’s capital structure is designed to remain stable even if Bitcoin falls by 90% and stays at that level for several years. Saylor noted that while such a scenario would not be favorable for equity holders, the overall capital structure would ensure that stakeholders at the top would suffer due to leverage, but others would still be paid out.