- Corporate firms all over the world own now more than $30 billion in Bitcoin and up to 5.48% of the total supply.
- Most have recalibrated their treasuries to either hedge against the market or for speculative purposes.
The year ends on a sensational note as Bitcoin reaches an all-time high of $28,500. Plenty of institutional entities have profited greatly from 2020’s bull run, with companies now holding a grand total of $30 billion in Bitcoin.
Retail participants have waited years for big companies to enter the crypto space and to start investing, but will the onslaught be worth it? The Bitcoin Treasuries website reveals that 29 companies own up to 5.48% of Bitcoin’s total supply. If the trend continues we might as well see institutions buy and ‘take’ coins that retail investors have once so dearly held.
At the moment MicroStrategy is the public company with the highest number of Bitcoin held in its treasury. The software producer owns 70,470 BTC which at current prices amounts to $1.88 billion. What is so interesting about this case is that the company has not bought Bitcoin to speculate, but to hedge against the falling U.S. dollar. CEO Michael Saylor used to be against Bitcoin in the past but he now completely changed his mind.
Saylor believes that BTC’s limited supply makes it even better than gold as a store of value. Furthermore, he seeks to hold digital assets for multiple decades before selling them as the CEO thinks that the market’s value will drastically increase.
Bitcoin funds have speculated well
But apart from Saylor’s ‘big short’ against the dollar, there are also big invstment funds who purchased Bitcoin for speculative reasons. Within the list from Bitcoin Treasuries, we see Grayscale as the single largest owner of Bitcoin out of all ETF-like companies in existence.
Their ‘Grayscale Bitcoin Trust’ owns a total of 572,644 Bitcoin, specifically $15 billion when thinking in USD terms. Although the company itself does not buy cryptocurrencies their clients are usually licensed, institutional investors. Therefore, we can statistically track the interest that comes from the corporate side.
The fund has vastly increased its crypto holdings this year. During some weeks we saw Grayscale announcing investments worth more than $300 million at a time. For example, the fund only held $8.2 billion worth of Bitcoin last month and the figure has almost doubled by now.
Other notable crypto funds include CoinShares, Ruffer Investment Company, and Bitwise. However, they only match a fraction of what Grayscale owns.
Mt. Gox still holds 141,686 Bitcoin
In the world of private companies, the once leading crypto exchange Mt. Gox stands as the number one holder. As a matter of fact, Mt. Gox represents one of the largest Bitcoin-holding entities. The firm holds 141,686 Bitcoin which is $3.79 billion per current prices.
However, these assets have quite a different status compared to the rest. The exchange has closed its services in 2014 and has not worked ever since. As a result of experiencing numerous hacks over the course of its lifetime, the trading platform was unable to provide a full reserve for all of its client’s funds.
The coins that Mt. Gox currently holds are basically frozen as a court case dictates that the company should reimburse its users in the near future. In the latest news regarding this matter, Mt. Gox has filed a draft rehabilitation plan on the day of the previous deadline on December 15.
The Tokyo District Court is now set to examine the plan and determine whether the firm can proceed with processing the rehabilitation. If accepted, Mt. Gox will have to return a majority of its assets to its previous clients.
The transfer does not necessarily mean that Mt. Gox is ‘selling’ their coins. However, some within the sector believe that the victims will instantly transfer their Bitcoin to exchanges and sell them in the open market.
