Top 10 Companies Holding the Most Bitcoin

For many years, the idea that publicly traded corporations could buy bitcoin for their reserves was considered laughable and unrealistic. The largest cryptocurrency was deemed too volatile and risky for any serious company to accept or purchase.

Over the past year, spurred by the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, that taboo has been well and truly broken, with numerous large institutional investors buying bitcoin. 'The doors opened for the first time' when the cloud software company MicroStrategy purchased bitcoin worth $425 million in August and September 2020. Others followed suit, including payment processor Square and electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla.

For investors who do not wish to buy bitcoin directly, purchasing shares in public companies that hold bitcoin can be a way to gain exposure to the asset without the hassle of arranging their own custody. Indeed, some experts believe that the scale of MicroStrategy's bitcoin purchases has made the company a de facto bitcoin ETF.

1. MicroStrategy

MicroStrategy, a prominent business analytics platform, has adopted bitcoin as its primary reserve asset.

Throughout 2021, the mobile software and cloud services company continued its buying spree of bitcoin. It now holds 105,085 bitcoins in reserve, worth over $3.9 billion. At one point, MicroStrategy's CEO Michael Saylor stated that he was buying $1,000 worth of bitcoin every second.

Unlike other executives who typically hesitate to discuss their personal investments, Saylor has disclosed that he personally owns 17,732 bitcoins, currently worth over $673 million.

According to BitInfoCharts, this positions Saylor among the top 100 bitcoin holders, assuming all are held within a single address. This is a significant turnaround for the CEO of MicroStrategy, who claimed in 2013 that bitcoin's days were numbered.

On New Year's Eve, 2020, Morgan Stanley revealed that it had purchased 10.9 percent of MicroStrategy. MicroStrategy aims to help other companies invest in bitcoin. In February 2021, they hosted the World.Now conference, aimed at introducing companies to crypto assets.

During the conference, Saylor stated that he expects a wave of companies to convert their balance sheets to bitcoin in the coming year.

Speaking at Binance Blockchain Week, Saylor explained why he chose bitcoin over gold as a reserve asset.

– The return on gold did not seem nearly as compelling as bitcoin. If you are looking for a store of value derivative without fiat in an inflationary environment, it makes sense to choose bitcoin as digital gold. – he said.

2. Tesla

Electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla has joined the list of companies holding bitcoin, revealing in an SEC filing that the company invested a total of $1.5 billion in the cryptocurrency. Tesla sold 10 percent of its bitcoin holdings in the first quarter of 2021. According to CEO Elon Musk, this was to demonstrate the liquidity of bitcoin as an alternative to holding cash on the balance sheet.

42,902 bitcoins currently held by Tesla are worth $1.37 billion, and the drop in bitcoin prices implies that the company potentially faces a loss of between $25 and $100 million in the next quarter, analysts state. 

In its SEC filing, Tesla's purchase of bitcoin reflects an updated investment policy focused on diversifying assets and maximizing returns. The filing states that they may invest a portion of their funds in certain alternative reserve assets, including digital assets, gold bars, gold-related ETFs, and other assets as specified in the future.

Tesla's bitcoin play followed months of speculation, as CEO Elon Musk led discussions on Twitter. At the end of 2020, Saylor offered to share his „playbook" for bitcoin investing with Musk, after claiming that a shift to bitcoin would do Tesla shareholders a $100 billion service. 

Shortly thereafter, at the end of January 2021, Musk changed his Twitter bio to #Bitcoin, seemingly hinting at Tesla's interest in the cryptocurrency.

However, Musk's relationship with bitcoin is not entirely positive. After announcing in March 2021 that Tesla would accept bitcoin payments for its products and services, just two months later he abruptly announced that the company would no longer accept the cryptocurrency for payments.

Citing the rapid increase in fossil fuel usage for bitcoin mining and transactions, Musk revealed that the company would not sell any of its bitcoin holdings and would consider reusing it for transactions after the mining transition to sustainable energy. He later clarified that the company would continue to use bitcoin for transactions once miners use 50 percent clean energy.

3. Galaxy Digital Holdings

The largest institutional bitcoin holder directly involved in the crypto industry, crypto-focused investment bank Galaxy Digital Holdings owns 16,400 bitcoins, according to bitcointreasuries.org, worth just over $623 million at current prices.

Founded by Michaela Novogratza in January 2018, the company has partnered with crypto firms including Block.one and BlockFi. Novogratz is a passionate advocate for bitcoin. In April 2020, he noted that the stimulus measures announced in response to the coronavirus pandemic were driving interest in cryptocurrencies, calling it the bitcoin moment, and asserting that money does not grow on trees.

However, later in the year, Novogratz claimed that the volatility of cryptocurrency means that gold is a safer bet.

– My feeling is that bitcoin far outperforms gold, but I would tell people to hold much less than gold. Just because of the volatility. – he said.

4. Voyager Digital

Crypto brokerage firm Voyager Digital holds 12,260 bitcoins according to bitcointreasuries.org, worth about $465 million at current  prices. The company aims to provide a unique contact point for trading digital assets, and in May 2021 reported quarterly revenue of $60.4 million, which is 16 times higher than the previous quarter.

– We have seen exponential adoption of cryptocurrencies as a recognized and invested asset class. – said CEO Steven Ehrlich. 

In its submission to Canadian regulators in June 2021, the company adopted a more measured tone, noting that a significant drop in the price of bitcoin could have a substantial negative impact on the company's business results, also pointing to the drastic drop in the price of bitcoin in March 2020 as a result of market uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic.

5. Square

Along with Tesla's bitcoin purchase, Square's investment of $50 million in bitcoin in October 2020 increased interest in institutional investment in the cryptocurrency.

Since then, the payment company has continued to invest in bitcoin, revealing that it purchased an additional $170 million in its fourth-quarter earnings statement for 2020, which is not surprising given that CEO Jack Dorsey is an enthusiastic advocate for bitcoin.

At that time, the company described the investment as part of Square's ongoing commitment to bitcoin, emphasizing that the company plans to continuously evaluate its aggregate investment in bitcoin relative to other investments. 

With its holdings now totaling 8,207 bitcoins, worth $312 million at current prices, Square has not changed its bitcoin plans. In March 2021, Square's CFO Amrita Ahuja claimed that there is absolutely a case for every balance sheet to have bitcoin in it, in an interview with Fortune, confirming the company's commitment to long-term holding.

In May 2021, the company reaffirmed its commitment to its bitcoin purchase strategy, following an interview in which Ahuja stated that the company does not plan further bitcoin purchases. Square has also made additional efforts to build the bitcoin ecosystem, launching a $5 million fund for further crypto education and a jump to defend the cryptocurrency's environmental impact.

In July 2021, the company announced plans to develop a bitcoin hardware wallet.

6. Marathon Digital Holdings

Bitcoin mining company Marathon Digital is also a major holder, with 5,784 bitcoins in its corporate treasury (worth about $220 million at current prices). The company, which aims to build the largest bitcoin mining operation in North America with one of the lowest energy costs, started as a patent holding company (often referred to as a patent troll) before pivoting to crypto mining.

The company has had a good year, starting 2021 with a capital raise of $200 million before rounding off January with a purchase of bitcoin worth $150 million. Over the past year, its stock price has risen by more than 3,000 percent, fueled by the exodus of crypto miners from China (indeed, it has outperformed bitcoin over the year to date).

Marathon Digital ultimately aims to own over 103,000 mining machines that mine 50-60 bitcoins daily. In June, it placed an order for 18,000 ASIC mining rigs, putting it on a good path.

7. Coinbase

Probably the most well-known crypto company on this list, the crypto exchange Coinbase went public through a direct listing on Nasdaq in April this year.

This move was hailed as a milestone for the crypto industry, although it was not backed by a drop in Coinbase's stock price. By July, COIN was a third lower than its price at the time of its market debut.

Ahead of the listing, in February 2021, Coinbase revealed that it held $230 million in bitcoin on its balance sheet. By July, its bitcoin holdings had slipped to $170 million (4,482 bitcoins).

8. Bitcoin Group SE

The German venture capital firm Bitcoin Group SE holds 3,947 bitcoins, worth $150 million at current prices. Its investments include the crypto exchange Bitcoin.de and Futurum Bank, which merged in October 2020 to form Germany's first crypto bank.

The decision followed the German parliament's decision to allow banks to sell and store cryptocurrencies, and Bitcoin Group SE CEO Marco Bodewein highlighted the opportunity to introduce institutional investors to the bank's high-yield and security features of cryptocurrencies.

9. Hut 8 Mining Corp

Canadian crypto mining company Hut 8 holds 3,522 bitcoins, worth $134 million, according to bitcointreasuries.org. In June 2021, the company was listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the HUT symbol, and in its SEC report noted that it is committed to increasing shareholder value by increasing the number and value of its bitcoin holdings.

The company also explained that it generates revenue by leveraging its reserves of self-mined and retained bitcoins, through yield account arrangements with leading digital asset brokerage firms.

In June 2021, Hut 8 shared its ambitious goal of mining 5,000 bitcoins by the end of the year. The company has been acquiring new mining machines, and it is also favored by the Chinese crackdown that has reduced mining difficulty. It is not surprising that the company is optimistic that the favorable geopolitical environment will benefit its mining operations in 2021.

10. Riot Blockchain

Another company in crypto mining, US-based Riot Blockchain rounds out the top 10, with a relatively modest holding of 2,243 bitcoins, worth $85 million at current prices.

With an increase in valuation from under $200 million in 2020 to peak levels of over $6 billion in 2021, the Nasdaq-traded company has recently been on an aggressive expansion drive. In April 2021, it spent $650 million on a one-gigawatt mining facility in Rockdale, Texas, describing the purchase as a transformative event that would make the company the largest publicly traded bitcoin mining and hosting company in North America, measured by total developed capacity.

However, the drop in bitcoin has caused a decline in Riot's stock price. At the time of the Rockdale purchase, it was trading at $48 per share. By July 2021, it had slipped to around $28, a drop of 41 percent.

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