Corporate Crypto Treasuries: The $130 Billion Revolution

Reading Time: 6 minutes

In a dramatic shift from just a few years ago, public companies worldwide are now holding over $130 billion worth of cryptocurrency on their balance sheets. What began as a bold experiment by a handful of forward-thinking firms has evolved into a full-fledged corporate treasury strategy, with companies treating digital assets not as speculative investments but as fundamental reserves—much like cash, gold, or government bonds. This transformation represents one of the most significant developments in both corporate finance and cryptocurrency adoption.

The Dominance of Strategy: A Company Reborn

Leading this revolution by an enormous margin is Strategy Inc., formerly known as MicroStrategy, which holds approximately 629,000 Bitcoin worth over $70 billion. The business intelligence company’s transformation into what some call a “Bitcoin treasury company” stands as one of the most dramatic corporate pivots in recent history.

Executive Chairman Michael Saylor, who once claimed he was buying one thousand dollars in Bitcoin every second, has transformed the company into a vehicle that holds more than three percent of Bitcoin’s total supply. The company changed its name to Strategy in 2025 to better reflect this Bitcoin-focused identity, and Saylor has claimed that adopting a Bitcoin strategy enabled the company to deliver ten to thirty times the performance of rival enterprise software companies.

Strategy’s holdings alone represent roughly half of all cryptocurrency held by Digital Asset Treasury Companies. The firm continues to aggressively acquire Bitcoin through debt offerings and equity sales, setting a template that dozens of other companies have attempted to replicate. Saylor himself personally holds over 17,000 Bitcoin, demonstrating his personal commitment to the strategy that has defined his company’s second act.

The Mining Giants: Bitcoin by Production

Bitcoin mining companies naturally hold substantial reserves, having accumulated cryptocurrency through their core operations. Marathon Digital Holdings, which aims to build the largest Bitcoin mining operation in North America at one of the lowest energy costs, holds 50,639 Bitcoin in its corporate treasury worth over five point five billion dollars. The company increased its revenue by sixty-four percent in the second quarter of 2025, marking its highest revenue quarter at over two hundred thirty-eight million dollars.

These mining operations face a unique challenge: the Bitcoin halving event that occurs approximately every four years reduces the reward for mining new blocks by half. In response, companies like Marathon have doubled down on expanding their operations and holding rather than selling their mined Bitcoin, betting on long-term price appreciation to offset declining mining rewards.

CleanSpark represents another major mining player, producing 685 Bitcoin in June 2025 alone. However, the company sold over 578 Bitcoin that same month for over sixty-one million dollars, illustrating the ongoing tension mining companies face between holding as a treasury strategy and selling to fund operations.

Beyond Bitcoin: The Ethereum Revolution

While Bitcoin dominates corporate holdings, 2025 marked a dramatic expansion into alternative cryptocurrencies, particularly Ethereum. BitMine Immersion, initially a Bitcoin mining company, transitioned to Ethereum infrastructure and currently holds approximately three point four million Ethereum valued at around twelve point one billion dollars, making it the top corporate holder of Ethereum.

SharpLink, a sports betting and gaming technology company, pivoted into Web3 infrastructure in 2025 and amassed approximately 860,000 Ethereum now worth over three billion dollars, earning it the title of “Ethereum treasury king”. The company’s stock soared over one thousand percent following this dramatic strategic shift.

Bit Digital made headlines when it sold off its entire Bitcoin stash to pivot into Ethereum, now holding over 120,000 Ethereum worth approximately five hundred million dollars, making it one of the most aggressive Ethereum holders among public companies.

The scale of this Ethereum adoption surge is staggering. Ethereum holdings by public companies grew over five thousand percent since January 2025, accounting for nearly six point two billion dollars. This represents a dramatic diversification from the Bitcoin-only treasury strategies that dominated earlier years.

The Diversification Wave

The corporate crypto landscape has expanded far beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum. Public companies have announced substantial positions in Hyperliquid, XRP, and Solana, with even BNB, Dogecoin, Litecoin, and newer entrants like Sui finding their way onto corporate balance sheets. While these holdings remain smaller in scale, they signal growing confidence in cryptocurrency utility beyond the two dominant assets.

As of late 2025, 113 companies hold Bitcoin as a treasury asset, compared to only 15 for Ethereum and 10 for Solana, with Bitcoin making up eighty-two point six percent of all corporate crypto holdings by dollar value, followed by Ethereum at thirteen point two percent and Solana at two point one percent.

Altcoins grew from just zero point three percent of corporate crypto treasuries in January 2025 to nine percent by July, highlighting the expanding risk appetite and recognition of crypto’s utility beyond Bitcoin alone. This shift occurred largely in the third quarter of 2025, when companies spent at least twenty-two point six billion dollars on new crypto acquisitions, with altcoin treasury companies accounting for ten point eight billion dollars.

Notable Individual Players

Tesla remains one of the most prominent traditional tech companies holding Bitcoin. The electric vehicle giant holds 11,509 Bitcoin as of late 2024, keeping the cryptocurrency in cold storage. While Tesla briefly accepted Bitcoin as payment for vehicles, CEO Elon Musk paused the initiative due to environmental concerns about Bitcoin mining’s energy consumption. The company now records a six hundred million dollar mark-to-market gain under new accounting rules that allow companies to reflect Bitcoin’s current market value rather than historical cost.

Trump Media & Technology Group, President Trump’s publicly traded media and technology firm, holds an estimated 15,000 Bitcoin according to data from Bitcoin Treasuries. The company committed two billion dollars of its liquid holdings to Bitcoin and Bitcoin-related securities in July 2025 and has filed to launch several crypto ETFs that invest in Bitcoin and other digital assets, demonstrating the growing political and business intersection with cryptocurrency.

Coinbase, as both an exchange operator and corporate holder, presents an interesting case. The company holds 11,776 Bitcoin in its treasury for investment purposes, currently worth nearly one point three billion dollars. Coinbase has innovated with products like wrapped Bitcoin (cbBTC) and recently restarted Bitcoin lending services, leveraging its position as both a platform operator and investor.

Block Inc., formerly known as Square, disclosed in 2024 that it would reinvest ten percent of profit generated from Bitcoin into Bitcoin via a dollar-cost averaging program, making it one of the most consistent companies investing in cryptocurrency.

The International Players

While U.S. companies dominate the list, international firms are making significant moves. Metaplanet, a Tokyo-listed company often called the “Asian Strategy,” made a dramatic shift into Bitcoin in 2024 and now holds over 13,000 Bitcoin as of mid-2025. Originally a hospitality firm, Metaplanet rebranded to focus on digital assets and even launched Japan’s first Bitcoin-themed hotel. The company aims to accumulate 10,000 additional Bitcoin by year’s end.

Hut 8, a Canadian Bitcoin mining company with operations in Alberta and Texas, holds 10,273 Bitcoin as of 2025, much of it self-mined. The company merged with U.S. Bitcoin Corp in 2023, significantly expanding its capacity and demonstrating how international consolidation is shaping the mining industry.

Galaxy Digital, founded by crypto investor Mike Novogratz, bridges traditional finance and digital assets. The company holds 12,830 Bitcoin as of 2025 and offers asset management, trading, and advisory services. Galaxy began building its position in the early 2020s and has grown holdings both for its own treasury and client-facing investment products.

The ETF Factor

The launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States in January 2024 created a new category of major institutional holders. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust holds approximately 805,110 Bitcoin under management, making it one of the single largest Bitcoin holders globally—though importantly, these assets belong to ETF investors rather than BlackRock itself.

At the start of 2025, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs held almost one hundred twenty billion dollars, nearly double the amount on public companies’ balance sheets at sixty-five point eight billion dollars. However, by mid-2025, the dynamics had shifted dramatically. Public companies added more Bitcoin to treasuries than all U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs combined, with forty-seven billion dollars versus thirty-two billion dollars.

This represents a stunning reversal in just six months, demonstrating that corporate treasury adoption had accelerated past even the institutional investment vehicle that had generated so much excitement. The direct corporate adoption of cryptocurrency as a treasury asset was outpacing the indirect exposure provided by ETFs.

For Ethereum, the gap narrowed even more dramatically. Ethereum treasuries narrowed the gap with ETFs by nearly thirty times in 2025, with most of this movement occurring in the last two months.

The Business Rationale

Companies pursue crypto treasury strategies for several strategic reasons. In an era of monetary expansion and concerns about currency debasement, cryptocurrency—particularly Bitcoin with its fixed supply of 21 million coins—offers a potential hedge against inflation. Companies with substantial cash reserves earning minimal returns in traditional savings accounts or low-yield bonds see Bitcoin as a superior store of value.

Some firms, particularly in the technology sector, view cryptocurrency holdings as consistent with their innovative brand identity. Holding digital assets signals alignment with emerging technologies and appeals to crypto-native customers and employees.

For mining companies, holding rather than immediately selling mined Bitcoin represents a bet on future price appreciation. If Bitcoin’s value continues to rise, the coins mined today at current operational costs will be worth substantially more in the future.

Companies with access to low-cost capital through debt offerings can employ a leverage strategy: borrow money at relatively low interest rates to purchase Bitcoin, then benefit from the appreciation while paying back the debt with depreciated dollars. This strategy works brilliantly in a rising market but carries substantial risk if cryptocurrency prices decline significantly.

The Explosive Growth Pattern

The expansion of Digital Asset Treasury Companies has been nothing short of explosive. These companies surged from 4 entities in 2020 to 142 by late 2025, with 76 of them formed in 2025 alone. This represents not gradual adoption but a sudden rush as regulatory clarity improved and institutional acceptance grew.

Since the start of 2025, these companies have spent at least forty-two point seven billion dollars acquiring cryptocurrency. The third quarter of 2025 alone saw over twenty-two billion dollars in acquisitions, representing the largest quarterly amount on record.

Public companies now hold approximately four percent of Bitcoin’s total circulating supply and a similar percentage of Ethereum. Combined with exchange-traded products, institutional and corporate holders now control around ten percent of both major crypt