A total of 38 listed companies with a combined market cap of $800 billion currently hold around $21.7 billion worth of bitcoin, almost tripling the value of their holdings compared to 12 months ago, when the figure was $7.2 billion.
According to data from London-based Nickel Digital Asset Management, publicly-traded companies have expanded the size of their holdings by 19% in the last year, following the purchase of a further 48,730 bitcoins. As a result, they now hold 309,637 bitcoins, equating to 1.5% of the total bitcoin supply cap, which is pegged at 21 million.
Nickel Digital’s analysis highlights a strong North American bias in these allocations. Nearly three-quarters of the 38 listed companies reviewed are US (15) and Canadian (13) businesses, four are European, and the remaining six companies are from Turkey, Thailand, Australia, Japan, Argentina, and Hong Kong.
Private companies also play an influential role in the digital assets market, with 11 entities accumulating 525,460 bitcoins to date. The corresponding figure a year ago was 316,067, representing a 66% increase.
The data shows there are two unlisted companies in the US, Switzerland and Hong Kong, and one in each of Gibraltar, Norway, Seychelles, Japan and Singapore.
Anatoly Crachilov, CEO at Nickel Digital, said: “This analysis highlights the growing use of bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset by companies seeking to diversify their balance sheets.
“This significant institutional presence is helping to dive the wider adoption and long-term price stability of bitcoin, whilst demonstrating its strong potential as an alternative treasury management tool.”
