Public Companies Now Hold Over 2 Million BTC — The "Irreversible Institutionalization" and What Comes Next

Why it matters: The total amount of Bitcoin held by public companies and institutional investors is approaching 2 million BTC, a sharp increase in five years from almost zero in 2020. Although the rapid accumulation phase has slowed, institutional capital is now embedded in the market in a qualitatively different way than in the previous cycle. This means that crypto assets have irreversibly shifted from "speculative objects" to "institutional infrastructure," and the price formation mechanism itself will change in the future.

📝 Summary: The total amount of Bitcoin held by public companies and institutional investors is approaching 2 million BTC, a sharp increase in five years from almost zero in 2020.

What Happened

• Total Holdings — Public companies and institutional investors hold approximately 2 million BTC (approximately 9.5% of the total supply), reaching this level in five years from almost zero in 2020.
• Strategy's Dominance (formerly MicroStrategy) — Strategy holds approximately 717,000 BTC alone, accounting for 3.4% of all Bitcoin, with an average acquisition price of approximately $66,000. Total investment exceeds $33 billion.
• Changes in Accumulation Pace — The rapid accumulation phase has slowed. In Q4 2025, multiple companies such as Metaplanet and Evernorth stopped buying for more than two months. On the other hand, Strategy added 41,002 BTC in January 2026 alone.

The Big Picture

Historical Context

Institutional ownership of Bitcoin began with MicroStrategy's (now Strategy) $250 million purchase in August 2020. The BTC price at the time was approximately $11,000. CEO Michael Saylor publicly advocated for "Bitcoin as an inflation hedge," overturning conventional corporate financial strategy. This move was initially met with skepticism even within the crypto asset community.

However, in 2021, Tesla invested $1.5 billion in BTC, and corporate Bitcoin ownership quickly became a mainstream discussion. As BTC recorded an all-time high of $69,000 in November of the same year, tech companies such as PayPal and Block (formerly Square) also entered the market one after another.

The 2022 bear market was a litmus test. BTC fell 78% to a low of $15,000, and Tesla sold 75% of its holdings. However, Strategy continued to buy, proving the strength of its "institutional commitment."

The approval of spot BTC ETFs in January 2024 was a decisive turning point. Led by BlackRock's IBIT, inflows into ETFs reached $35.2 billion in the first year alone. The barriers to entry for institutional investors were dramatically lowered, and the number of companies holding BTC surged from 69 to over 191. In 2025, the holdings of public companies increased by 82% year-on-year, reaching approximately 1.08 million BTC. Including ETFs, this approaches the major milestone of 2 million BTC.

In March 2025, President Trump signed an executive order establishing a strategic Bitcoin reserve. The U.S. government itself positioned approximately 325,000 BTC as permanent assets. This officially established the recognition that "Bitcoin is a national strategic asset." In these five years, Bitcoin has undergone an irreversible shift in status from a personal speculative tool to a strategic reserve asset for nations and corporations.

Stakeholder Map

By the Numbers

• 2 million BTC — Total amount of BTC held by institutions and public companies, accounting for approximately 9.5% of the total supply, reached in five years from almost zero in 2020.
• 717,000 BTC — Strategy's individual holdings, an unprecedented concentration of 3.4% of all Bitcoin held by a single company.
• Over 191 companies — Number of public companies holding BTC, a rapid increase of approximately 2.8 times from 69 companies at the beginning of 2024.
• $35.2 billion — Annual net inflow into spot BTC ETFs in 2024, transforming the flow of institutional investment in the year since approval.
• $103 billion — Assets under management (AUM) of the U.S. BTC ETF market, growing 45% in 2025.
• 325,000 BTC — Strategic Bitcoin reserve of the U.S. government, composed of confiscated assets and not intended for sale.
• 82% — Year-on-year increase in BTC holdings of public companies in 2025.
• 21x — Increase in private sector BTC holdings from January 2020 to the end of 2025.

Between the Lines — What Reports Don't Say

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NOW PATTERN

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Path Dependency × Winner Takes All

Institutional Bitcoin holdings have reached a critical mass, and the market structure itself has irreversibly shifted from a "personally-driven speculative market" to an "institutionally-driven institutional market." The rapid expansion phase of accumulation is coming to an end, but that signifies "establishment" rather than decline.

Path Dependency: No Turning Back——How BTC Became "Institutional Infrastructure"

The figure of 2 million BTC is not just a record of holdings. It is proof that Bitcoin has been "irreversibly incorporated" into the financial system.

When MicroStrategy (now Strategy) incorporated BTC into its corporate finance in 2020, it was seen as a "quirky bet." But five years later, more than 191 listed companies have BTC on their balance sheets, BlackRock's IBIT ETF alone has over $70 billion in AUM, and the U.S. government holds 325,000 BTC as a strategic reserve.

The essence of this change lies not in "quantity" but in "quality." The approval of ETFs has opened up a formal route for traditional institutional investors such as pension funds, insurance companies, and sovereign wealth funds to access Bitcoin. The fact that Abu Dhabi's Mubadala and Al Warda expanded their exposure to BlackRock's IBIT in Q4 2025 is proof that Bitcoin is now recognized not as an "experimental asset" but as an "allocation target."

Underpinning Path Dependency is the structural transformation of the regulatory environment. Paul Atkins, a crypto-friendly figure, was appointed SEC Chairman, and a federal-level stablecoin regulatory framework was established under the GENIUS Act. President Trump's establishment of a strategic Bitcoin reserve ratified BTC's status as "digital gold" at the national level.

What is important here is that institutionalization is a dynamic distinct from "enthusiasm." While individual investors' enthusiasm rises and falls in cycles, ETF infrastructure, custody systems, accounting standards (the FASB introduced fair value accounting for crypto assets in 2025), and regulatory frameworks, once built, are not removed. Even when Tesla sold 75% of its BTC in 2022, the ETF infrastructure did not disappear. Even when Strategy had an unrealized loss of $17.4 billion, it did not change its holding strategy.

This "irreversibility" is the decisive difference from the previous cycle. After the ICO bubble burst in 2017, institutional capital effectively returned to zero. But after the crash of 2022, institutional commitment was maintained. Institutionalized infrastructure has "stickiness" against economic cycles. This is fundamentally changing the structure of the Bitcoin market.

Winner Takes All: From the "Era of Buying Spree" to the "Era of Strategic Allocation"

The slowdown in the rapid accumulation phase is not a bearish signal. It reflects a structural shift in which the market has moved from an "exploration phase" to an "establishment phase."

The "slowdown in the accumulation phase" pointed out by CoinDesk may seem like a retreat in institutional demand at first glance. In fact, in Q4 2025, Metaplanet stopped buying for more than two months, and Evernorth also stopped moving for six weeks. There were also fund outflows from ETFs.

However, a deeper reading of the data reveals a different picture. Strategy purchased $21.48 billion worth of BTC throughout 2025, maintaining almost the same pace as the $21.97 billion in 2024. It added 41,002 BTC in January 2026 alone. In other words, the "slowdown in accumulation" is not uniform, and a selection of "who buys and who stops" is progressing.

This differentiation indicates a paradigm shift in accumulation. In 2024, the "excitement of ETF approval" and the "surge in BTC prices" overlapped, and FOMO (fear of missing out) accelerated corporate purchases. Every company joined in, saying "Follow MicroStrategy." However, in the second half of 2025, as BTC entered a correction from its all-time high in the $120,000 range, "unstrategic followers" began to drop out.

The remaining companies are adopting more sophisticated accumulation strategies. MARA (Marathon Digital) holds 52,850 BTC while shifting to a strategy of lending out 7,377 BTC to generate yield. Block (formerly Square) is taking a "dollar-cost averaging" approach of continuously purchasing BTC with a portion of its sales, and plans to introduce Lightning Network payments to Square's 4 million merchants by 2026. Riot sold some of its BTC and allocated it to investment in AI/HPC (high-performance computing) infrastructure.

This movement is structurally similar to the history of gold institutionalization. After the Nixon shock in 1971, gold holdings of central banks around the world increased rapidly. However, at some point, the phase shifted from "accumulation" to "operation," and infrastructure such as the gold lending market, futures market, and ETFs was developed. Bitcoin is now at the same turning point.

The slowdown in the pace of accumulation signifies market maturity. The explosive increase in new entrants has calmed down, but existing holders' BTC is not returning to the market. With 2 million BTC "locked in" on institutional balance sheets, the circulating supply is structurally decreasing. Combined with the next halving (scheduled for 2028), the supply-side compression will have a significant impact on medium- to long-term price formation.

Dynamics Intersection

"Path Dependency" and "Winner Takes All" are two sides of the same coin. The more institutionalization progresses, the more the quality of accumulation changes. Early institutionalization focused on "how much to buy," but mature institutionalization focuses on "how to efficiently hold and manage." The development of infrastructure such as ETFs, lending, and Lightning Network payments is transforming BTC from a "dead asset" to a "working asset." At the intersection of this dynamic is the "liquidity paradox." While 2 million BTC is fixed in institutions, ETFs and derivatives markets create liquidity. Holdings are fixed, transactions are liquid——this dual structure is forming a new market mechanism for Bitcoin. The previous cycle's pattern of "individual speculation → crash → withdrawal" has been replaced by a pattern of "institutional holding → adjustment → continued holding." This structural change is irreversible and is structurally raising the bottom price of the Bitcoin market.

Pattern History

1971: The Collapse of the Gold Standard and Central Banks' Gold Accumulation

After the gold-dollar convertibility was suspended by the Nixon shock in 1971, gold's status changed from "currency anchor" to "reserve asset." Central banks around the world initially accumulated gold rapidly. However, in the 1990s, the pace of accumulation slowed, and some central banks turned to selling. After the 2008 Lehman shock, accumulation accelerated again. This 50-year cycle drew a pattern of "rapid accumulation → deceleration → re-accumulation in times of crisis → institutional establishment." When gold ETFs (GLD) were listed in 2004, access for individuals and institutions expanded dramatically, completing the "institutionalization" of gold. Currently, central banks around the world hold a total of approximately 36,000