Bitcoin holdings of publicly listed companies have increased by almost 200% within a year, from $7.2 billion to $20 billion. 

Bitbo data shows that 42 publicly listed companies hold 335,249 Bitcoin ( BTC ) $20 billion. According to investment manager Nickel Digital Asset Management, the amount of BTC publicly traded firms held a year ago was worth $7.2 billion, meaning there’s a 177.7 increase in the value of BTC holdings of public firms. 

Some of the publicly traded companies that own Bitcoin. Source: Bitbo

The trend started with business intelligence firm MicroStrategy buying over 21,000 BTC in August 2020, making Bitcoin its primary treasury reserve asset. As of August 2024, the business intelligence firm increased its holdings to 226,500, as of August 2024. 

Because companies’ interest in holding BTC has increased, Nickel Digital commissioned a survey to learn more about how institutions feel about holding the asset. 

Related: Long-term Bitcoin holder buys hit $10B mark as price slips below $60K

Institutional survey highlights strong belief in holding Bitcoin 

During the study, the researchers approached 200 institutional investors and wealth managers in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Singapore, Switzerland, Brazil and the United Arab Emirates. 

The results showed that 75% of organizations already invested in the crypto space believe publicly listed companies should hold Bitcoin. Meanwhile, 26% of the survey participants strongly supported Bitcoin’s use case as a reserve asset. 

Nickel Digital also highlighted in the results that the survey participants who collectively manage $1.7 trillion in assets expect stronger growth in the number of Bitcoin held by publicly traded companies. 

58% of the survey participants believe that 10% or more listed companies will hold BTC in their balance sheets in the next five years. Meanwhile, some believe the number is higher. 8% of the survey participants predicted that 25% or more public firms would add Bitcoin to their balance sheets in five years. 

Nickel Digital CEO and founding partner Anatoly Crachilov believes the results highlight how institutional investors see long-term value in BTC. He explained: 

“Institutional investors and wealth managers are clearly seeing long-term value in having listed companies initiate exposure to digital assets as part of their reserve allocation thus helping mitigate the risk of currency debasement.”

The 335,249 BTC that public companies currently hold only represents 1.6% of Bitcoin’s total supply capped at 21,000,000. 


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