A few years ago, the idea that a public company might buy bitcoin for its reserves seemed ludicrous. Bitcoin was seen as volatile in price and too fringe to be accepted by any large business. However, in the past year and a half, under the inflationary environment caused by the epidemic, this taboo has been completely broken, and many institutional investors have bought Bitcoin.
The curtain first kicked off when mobile software development firm MicroStrategy purchased $425 million worth of bitcoin in August-September 2020. Other companies have followed suit, including payment processor Square and electric car maker Tesla.
For investors unwilling to buy bitcoin themselves, buying shares in public companies that hold bitcoin can be a way to gain exposure to the asset without self-custodial bitcoin. Some experts believe that MicroStrategy’s large purchases of Bitcoin are turning it into a “Bitcoin ETF.”
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1. MicroStrategy
MicroStrategy has adopted Bitcoin as its primary reserve asset.
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Image: Michael Saylor, CEO of Microstrategy
Throughout 2021, Microstratrgy continues to buy Bitcoin. On Dec. 31, the firm “buy the dip” again, purchasing 1,914 bitcoins at an average price of $49,229 per bitcoin. The firm now holds 124,391 bitcoins, the largest corporate bitcoin holding outside of trusts and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
CEO Michael Saylor has revealed that he buys $1,000 of Bitcoin every second. Unlike other CEOs who typically shy away from discussing personal investments, Saylor has publicly stated that he personally holds 17,732 bitcoins, currently worth more than $832 million. That puts Saylor in the top 100 bitcoin holders, according to BitInfoCharts. But Thaler is not the first CEO to support Bitcoin, because he tweeted satirizing Bitcoin in 2013:Bitcoin's days are numbered, and it will go the way of online gambling: no more competition or regulation.
On New Year's Eve 2020, Morgan Stanley revealed that it had purchased a 10.9% stake in MicroStrategy.
Additionally, MicroStrategy is looking to get other companies to invest in Bitcoin. In February 2021, Thaler hosted a Bitcoin event during the World.Now conference, designed to keep the company executives in attendance up to date with Bitcoin. During the meeting, Saylor said he expects a "substantial number of companies" to add bitcoin to their balance sheets in the coming year.
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2. Tesla
Electric car maker Tesla has joined the ranks of companies holding bitcoin, though it may also be the most controversial company on this list.
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Image: Tesla and SpaceX CEO, Elon Musk
Tesla currently holds 42,902 bitcoins worth $2.04 billion, according to an SEC filing. Tesla's purchases of bitcoin reflect a new investment policy aimed at diversifying its cash on hand and maximizing returns. “We may invest a portion of this cash in certain future alternative reserve assets, including crypto assets, gold bars, gold ETFs and others,” the filing said.
Tesla sold 10% of its Bitcoin holdings in the first quarter of 2021, which, according to Musk, is "proving that Bitcoin's liquidity can make it an alternative to cash held on the company's balance sheet." Taste."
However, Musk's relationship with Bitcoin has not been entirely positive, and just two months after announcing that Tesla would accept Bitcoin as purchases for its products and services in March, Musk again referred to "bitcoin mining and The company announced that it will no longer accept bitcoin as payment, but will not sell its holdings and will consider using them again once mining transitions to "more sustainable energy sources", citing the increased use of fossil fuels due to trade transactions. for transactions. He later clarified that once miners use 50 percent clean energy, the company will resume using bitcoin for transactions.
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3. Galaxy Digital
As the largest institutional holder of Bitcoin directly involved in the crypto industry, crypto-focused merchant bank Galaxy Digital holds a total of 16,400 bitcoins, worth just over $779 million at current prices, according to Bitcoin Worldwide.
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Image: Michael Novogratz, CEO of Galaxy Digital
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4. Voyager Digital
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As part of the deal, Voyager gets Mavericks' naming rights to the team's arena in NBA 2K game
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5. Block（Square）
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Image: Block CEO Jack Dorsey speaks at the <Bitcoin 2021> conference
Block made a $50 million investment in Bitcoin in October 2020. Since then, the payments company has continued to invest in bitcoin, revealing in its fourth-quarter 2020 earnings statement that it had added an additional $170 million to its bitcoin holdings. Considering that Jack Dorsey is a Bitcoin advocate (and even runs a Bitcoin node himself), this is perhaps not surprising.
Block, whose bitcoin holdings now stand at 8,207 BTC, worth about $381 million at current prices, has not changed its stance on bitcoin. In March 2021, the company's chief financial officer, Amrita Ahuja, said in an interview with Fortune magazine, "It is absolutely possible for every company to have Bitcoin on its balance sheet in the future." reasons,” while reiterating the company’s commitment to holding bitcoin “for the long term.”
The Block has also furthered its efforts to build the Bitcoin ecosystem, launching a $5 million fund to further crypto education. In addition, in November 2021, the company released the white paper of the decentralized bitcoin exchange tbDEX, aiming to build a bridge connecting the fiat currency and the encrypted world, while satisfying legal, regulatory or any other risks, using the minimum The required identity information establishes a ubiquitous entrance and exit of the encrypted world for ordinary people.
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6. Marathon Digital
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Image: Marathon Digital shows off its mine
To sum up Marathon Digital's Bitcoin moment in 2021 in one sentence, it started with a $200 million financing and ended with a $150 million purchase of Bitcoin in January.
Marathon Digital purchased the Hardin power station in Montana, USA in 2021, which can generate 107MW of electricity for the company's large-scale bitcoin mining. The company’s ultimate goal is to have more than 199,000 Bitcoin miners by 2023, producing 23.3 EH/sa per day, a 600% increase in hashrate from December 2021. That month, the company ordered 78,000 Antminer mining machines from Bitmain for delivery in 2022.
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7. Hut 8 Mining
Canadian crypto mining firm Hut 8 holds 5,242 bitcoins, worth about $249 million, according to Bitcoin Worldwide. In June 2021, the company's stock was listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market, and according to an SEC filing, the company is "committed to developing shareholder value by increasing the number and value of Bitcoin holdings."
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Image: Hut 8 shows off its mine
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8. Coinbase
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IMAGE: Coinbase's logo is displayed on a Nasdaq billboard in Times Square, New York, April 14, 2021
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9. Riot Blockchain
Another crypto mining firm, U.S.-based Riot Blockchain, holds 3,995 bitcoins, or about $189 million.
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10. Bitcoin Group SE
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Image: Logo display of Bitcoin Group SE
The encrypted exchanges Bitcoin.de and Futurum Bank it invested in merged in October 2020 to become "Germany's first encrypted bank", while Bitcoin Group SE participated in the operation of Bitcoin.de, making the latter the largest encrypted exchange in Europe platform.
According to the "Notice on Further Preventing and Dealing with the Risk of Hype in Virtual Currency Transactions" issued by the central bank and other departments, the content of this article is only for information sharing, and does not promote or endorse any operation and investment behavior. Participate in any illegal financial practice.
risk warning:
According to the "Notice on Further Preventing and Dealing with the Risk of Hype in Virtual Currency Transactions" issued by the central bank and other departments, the content of this article is only for information sharing, and does not promote or endorse any operation and investment behavior. Participate in any illegal financial practice.
