Bitwise: Corporate Bitcoin acquisition strategy is about to explode! The price of the currency will rise sharply

Bitwise founder Matt Hougan pointed out that the trend of enterprises hoarding Bitcoin is underestimated. In addition to MicroStrategy, 70 listed companies already hold Bitcoin, and this number is about to grow significantly enough to significantly push up the price of Bitcoin this year.

MicroStrategy's influence far exceeds expectations

MicroStrategy is not a giant company, and its global market value ranks only about 220.

However, the company purchased about 257,000 bitcoins last year, exceeding the amount of bitcoins mined throughout 2024 (218,829).

MicroStrategy recently announced plans to spend more than $42 billion to increase its holdings in Bitcoin, which is equivalent to the new supply in the past 2.6 years at the current price.

Trends have surpassed MicroStrategy

Although MicroStrategy has attracted much attention, it is not an isolated case. At present, 70 listed companies have included Bitcoin in their balance sheets, and many unlisted companies have followed suit, and Bitwise is one of them.

These listed companies (excluding MicroStrategy) hold a total of 141,302 Bitcoins, including cryptocurrency companies such as Coinbase and Marathon Digital, as well as non-crypto companies such as Block, Tesla, Semlar Scientific and Mercado Libre.

Unlisted companies do not need to disclose their holdings, but according to BitcoinTreasuries.com data, companies that voluntarily disclose information (such as SpaceX, Block.one, etc.) hold at least 368,043 BTC.

This means that MicroStrategy's Bitcoin holdings account for less than 50%. Hougan believes that this ultimately represents the tip of the iceberg.

Corporate Bitcoin Holdings is about to explode

Hougan predicts that the number of Bitcoin held by enterprises will grow rapidly, as two major factors that have previously hindered this trend are fading:

Reputation risk is reduced: In the past, listed company CEOs faced tremendous pressure to include Bitcoin in assets, which may lead to negative reports, shareholder litigation, regulatory scrutiny and even opposition from the board. But this risk has been significantly lower as Washington's acceptance of cryptocurrencies increases at the highest level.

Changes in accounting rules: Starting from December, the new ASU2023-08 regulations implemented by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) have changed the way Bitcoin’s GAAP accounting treatment is done. Previously, Bitcoin was regarded as an "intangible asset" and needed to undergo an "impairment test". It needs to be written down when the price fell, and it cannot be re-evaluated if it rose. The new regulations allow companies to record the value of Bitcoin based on market prices, which can be included in profits when the price rises.

Why do companies buy Bitcoin?

Many people are skeptical of this trend and do not understand why businesses buy Bitcoin. Hougan explained: The motivation of companies to buy Bitcoin is no different from that of individual investors.

Some companies pursue high returns and hope to raise their stock prices by holding Bitcoin; some companies are worried about the depreciation of the US dollar and hope to avoid risks; some companies want to attract customers through this; it may also be based on intuition.

No matter what the motivation is, for investors, there is no need to delve into the reasons. Just focus on the data and think about two questions: How big is the demand for the company? What does this mean for the market?

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