Finance

Companies Rush to Bitcoin: How Public Firms Are Reshaping Crypto’s Future

Public firms boosted Bitcoin holdings by nearly 40% to 172, owning over $117B, despite volatility.

byAndres Castro

October 15, 2025, 7:35 AM

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Executive Summary

Public companies significantly increased their Bitcoin holdings in Q3, with the number of firms holding BTC surging by nearly 40% and total corporate holdings rising by 20.68% to over 1.02 million BTC.

Institutional interest in Bitcoin remains robust, evidenced by record year-to-date inflows of $48.7 billion into digital asset investment products.

A supportive regulatory environment under the Trump administration, along with recent accounting reforms and SEC listing standards, is contributing to accelerated corporate adoption and potential Bitcoin price appreciation towards $160,000.

The Story So Far

The significant increase in public companies’ Bitcoin holdings reflects a strategic shift towards integrating digital assets into their treasury reserves, largely underpinned by a supportive regulatory environment that includes recent accounting reforms and SEC listing standards influenced by the Trump administration. This trend is further propelled by robust institutional interest, substantial ETF inflows, and the funding of digital asset treasuries through security issuance, indicating a long-term accumulation strategy despite market volatility.

Why This Matters

The significant surge in public companies accumulating Bitcoin, now holding over 1 million BTC, signals a pivotal shift in corporate finance, legitimizing digital assets as strategic treasury reserves. This growing institutional acceptance, bolstered by robust inflows and a supportive regulatory environment under the Trump administration, suggests a long-term trend that could drive sustained demand and potentially higher Bitcoin valuations, reshaping how traditional businesses approach their balance sheets.

Who Thinks What?

Public companies are strategically increasing their Bitcoin holdings as digital assets become a significant part of their treasury reserves, with many firms substantially raising their BTC ownership.

Gracy Chen, CEO of Bitget, suggests that a supportive regulatory environment under the Trump administration, including accounting reforms and SEC listing standards, has contributed to this acceleration and anticipates continued ETF inflows driving Bitcoin prices higher.

Peter Chung, Head of Research at Presto Research, along with other analysts, views this accumulation as a long-term strategy by firms primarily focused on digital asset treasuries, funded by public market security issuance, seeing recent market pullbacks as recalibrations rather than fundamental issues.

Public companies significantly increased their Bitcoin holdings in the third quarter of this year, with the number of firms holding BTC surging by nearly 40% to 172. These companies collectively own over 1.02 million Bitcoin, valued at approximately $117 billion, reflecting a strategic shift towards digital assets as treasury reserves despite recent market volatility.

Corporate Bitcoin Accumulation Surges

The rise in corporate Bitcoin adoption demonstrates a growing trend among public entities to integrate the cryptocurrency into their balance sheets. According to asset manager Bitwise, public companies added over 193,000 BTC, marking a 20.68% quarter-over-quarter increase in their holdings.

This accumulation outpaced growth in other sectors, with private companies increasing their Bitcoin holdings by 2.21% and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) seeing a 6.7% rise. Leading corporate holders include MicroStrategy, which maintains a substantial 640,031 Bitcoin, and Metaplanet, which more than doubled its holdings during the quarter.

Institutional Inflows and Market Context

Institutional interest in Bitcoin remains robust, with digital asset investment products recording $3.17 billion in inflows last week. This pushed the year-to-date total to a record $48.7 billion, as detailed in a CoinShares report.

Gracy Chen, CEO of Bitget, suggested that a supportive regulatory environment under the Trump administration, including recent accounting reforms and the SEC’s generic listing standards for commodity-based trust shares, has contributed to this acceleration. Chen anticipates continued ETF inflows and broader corporate adoption could drive Bitcoin towards $160,000 in the fourth quarter.

Long-Term Strategy Amidst Volatility

Peter Chung, Head of Research at Presto Research, noted that digital asset treasuries are primarily driving this accumulation, funded by security issuance in the public market. He explained that these firms are acquiring crypto assets as their core mission, and as long as there is market appetite for their security issuance, this trend will persist.

Analysts characterize recent market pullbacks as a “recalibration” influenced by geopolitical tensions rather than a fundamental flaw in the bullish thesis. This perspective suggests that long-term accumulation trends by institutional investors, who typically have a longer investment horizon than retail traders, are likely to remain intact despite near-term price fluctuations.