Institutional investors and wealth managers are calling for more S&P 500 companies to hold Bitcoin as a reserve asset, according to research by London-based digital assets manager Nickel Digital Asset Management.
The research found that 49% of institutional investors and wealth managers surveyed across the US, UK, Germany, Switzerland, Singapore, Brazil and the UAE believe at least 10% of S&P 500 firms will adopt Bitcoin on their balance sheets, while 51% expect between 5% and 10% of companies to do so.
“Nearly half of institutional investors and wealth managers expect 10% or more of S&P 500 companies will have Bitcoin on their balance sheets,” the firm shared. Support for the move is strong, with 86% favouring publicly listed companies holding Bitcoin as a reserve asset — 18% of whom said they favour it. About 1% were opposed and 13% remained neutral.
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Separate data from BitcoinTreasuries.net shows that corporate Bitcoin holdings have surged by as much as 170% over the past year, with companies now holding around 3.2% of all bitcoin that will ever be issued. While US software firm Strategy remains the largest corporate holder, listed companies in the UK, Japan and France are also beginning to allocate, in some cases expanding into other cryptocurrencies.
Anatoly Crachilov, CEO and founding partner at Nickel Digital, commented: “We are witnessing the unfolding stages of a structural shift in corporate treasury management. The growing number of public companies allocating to Bitcoin reflects not speculation, but a strategic response to fiat debasement, balance sheet optimisation, and shareholder alignment. What began as a bold outlier move is fast becoming a credible treasury strategy—validated not only by MicroStrategy’s high-profile pivot, but also by an expanding cohort of global firms following suit. Institutional investors are clearly anticipating this trend to accelerate, and we believe Bitcoin will increasingly feature as a digital reserve asset in modern corporate finance.”
