Corporate Bitcoin Treasuries Explained: Why Public Companies Hold Bitcoin

Public companies choose to hold bitcoin often because it is viewed as a means to diversify their treasury holdings, hedge against inflation, while also providing exposure to crypto.

The practice was pioneered by Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), with other companies such as Tesla, Block, Metaplanet, as well as bitcoin miners and treasury companies. Corporate balance sheets now hold more than one million BTC in total.

In this article, we'll cover the history of this trend, as well as the biggest public companies holding bitcoin.

What Is a Corporate Bitcoin Treasury?

A corporate bitcoin treasury is one that fits bitcoin into the company’s balance sheet, oftentimes just a small portion.

However,  there is a small and growing group of dedicated “bitcoin treasury companies”, whose sole purpose is to accumulate bitcoin, financed through a mix of operating cash flow, equity issuance, and debt.

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For most corporate treasuries, the position remains a minority of total reserves. However, for a small but growing group of so-called bitcoin treasury companies, accumulating bitcoin is the primary business activity, financed through a continuous mix of operating cash flow, equity issuance, and debt.

Why Do Companies Buy Bitcoin?

One of the main reasons is a hedge against inflation, and by extension, currency debasement, due to bitcoin’s characteristic as a scarce, finite asset. The supply of BTC is capped at 21 million, after which not more can be mined.

Another reason is the potential for price appreciation, as bitcoin has historically generated annualized returns above benchmarks such as the S&P500 across its lifespan.

The other reason is that a company that owns bitcoin in its balance sheet can attract specific types of investors who want regulated equity exposure to bitcoin without having to manage a self-custodial wallet.

Which Public Companies Hold Bitcoin?

Corporate bitcoin ownership is heavily concentrated, with the top holders accounting for the majority of all corporate-held bitcoin.

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Strategy

Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) is the largest corporate bitcoin holder, with more than 760,000 BTC as of early 2026. The company's market value today reflects its bitcoin holdings rather than its legacy software business.

Tesla

Tesla bought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin in 2021, though they sold ~75% of their holdings in 2022. They still hold approximately 10,000 BTC as of 2026.

Block

Block (formerly Square) holds bitcoin as part of a strategy that includes Cash App's bitcoin services and the company’s investments in bitcoin mining hardware and self-custody products.

Metaplanet

Metaplanet is the most notable Asia-based corporate bitcoin holder, with more than 35,000 BTC as of early 2026.

Bitcoin Mining Companies

Bitcoin miners such as MARA Holdings, Riot Platforms, CleanSpark, and Cipher Mining mine bitcoin as their core business and retain a portion of mined coins as treasury assets.

How Do Bitcoin Treasury Strategies Work?

How a company actually accumulates bitcoin matters as much as why. The financing structure shapes shareholder risk, balance-sheet leverage, and how the strategy performs through market cycles.

• Direct Purchases: Converting cash reserves into bitcoin. While this avoids the need for new financing, it also caps the size of the position to the cash reserves that a company manages to generate.
• Debt-Financed Acquisitions: Using convertible senior notes to finance bitcoin purchases. A company raises billions of dollars through convertible debt offerings, typically with low or zero coupons, and uses the proceeds to buy bitcoin. The thesis for leveraging debt financing for acquisitions is that bitcoin's price appreciation will outpace the cost of the debt. The downside is that the debt becomes a binding constraint if bitcoin falls and stays low.
• At-the-Market Equity Offerings: Treasury companies can also perform at-the-market (ATM) programs, which is essentially issuing and then selling shares directly into the market and using the proceeds to buy bitcoin.

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The Accounting Shift That Changed Corporate Bitcoin

For most of the period before 2025, U.S. accounting rules required companies to write down holdings whenever the price dropped below cost basis but did not allow them to mark holdings back up when the price recovered, which resulted in a steady drag on reported earnings that disincentivized public companies from holding bitcoin

That changed with a FASB Accounting Standards Update 2023-08, which took effect for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2024. The new rule requires companies to measure crypto assets at fair value at each reporting date, with gains and losses flowing through net income. Companies now report the actual market value of their bitcoin in each filing rather than an artificially low impaired number.

Benefits and Risks of Corporate Bitcoin Holdings

The benefits for a company to hold bitcoin include treasury diversification, potential capital appreciation, increased investor interest, and strategic positioning around crypto.

The risks are bitcoin’s historically steep drawdowns, high volatility, notable custody risks, liquidity risk, and shareholder concerns about whether buying crypto is the right use of capital.

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The Future of Corporate Bitcoin Adoption

The future of corporate bitcoin adoption will likely depend on three things:

1. Bitcoin’s returns through future cycles
2. The accounting and regulatory framework develops
3. How the early treasury companies fare through stress periods.

Spot bitcoin ETFs have given companies a simpler alternative to acquire exposure without having to operate a custody program.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Why do public companies buy bitcoin?

Diversification of treasury reserves, protection against fiat debasement, long-term appreciation potential, and strategic positioning around crypto.

2. Which public company owns the most bitcoin?

Strategy is by the largest corporate bitcoin holder, holding more than 760,000 BTC as of early 2026.

3. Is bitcoin a good treasury asset for businesses?

It depends on the company's risk tolerance, capital structure, and business model. While bitcoin can diversify a treasury and offer appreciation potential, it also introduces meaningful earnings volatility under accounting rules and exposes the balance sheet to deep drawdowns.

4. How do companies buy bitcoin?

Through direct purchases on institutional trading desks, at-the-market equity offerings used to fund purchases, debt issuance (especially convertible notes), and through spot bitcoin ETFs.

5. What are the risks of holding bitcoin on a balance sheet?

Price volatility, fair-value-driven earnings swings, regulatory uncertainty, custody and security risk, liquidity at scale, and shareholder pushback. Companies that financed bitcoin purchases with debt face additional risk if bitcoin's price falls and stays low.

6. Can any public company adopt a bitcoin treasury strategy?

Most cannot easily do so due to investment policies, debt covenants, regulatory rules, and board risk tolerance that often constrain how much volatility a public company's balance sheet can absorb.