Keep buying, buying, buying, how many Bitcoins do U.S. listed companies and fund giants hold?

Original author: Ana Paula Pereira, Sander Lutz

Original compilation: Moni, Odaily Planet Daily

In spot Bitcoin  Forty trading days after the listing of the ETF, Nasdaq-listed BlackRock IBIT has reached an important milestone. The number of Bitcoins it holds has surpassed that of Michael Saylor. ;The number of Bitcoin holdings of its listed company MicroStrategy.

Data shows that as of March 8, IBIT holds a total of approximately 195,985 BTC (as shown below) , with a market capitalization of more than $13.579 billion, and MicroStrategy's Bitcoin holdings were approximately $193,000 BTC. On the same day, Bitcoin exceeded $70,000 for the first time in history. .

Not only that, the spot Bitcoin ETF  Within a few months, the cumulative transaction volume "easily" exceeded US$100 billion. Data updated by Yahoo Finance on March 10th showed that as of March 8th, the cumulative spot Bitcoin transaction volume had reached $106.59 billion.

In fact, unknowingly, there has been a pullback among U.S. listed companies. A battle began for Bitcoin reserves.

Have Bitcoin reserves of U.S. listed companies/funds become a “three-headed force”?

As the price of Bitcoin reaches a record high, US stock listed companies/funds are also accelerating their accumulation of Bitcoin. They are "devouring" Bitcoin even faster than Bitcoin. The speed at which coins are mined. According to the current market trend, US listed companies have formed a "three-headed" trend, and these "three heads" are: spot Bitcoin ETF, MicroStrategy, and Tesla (and SpaceX).

First, let’s take a look at the spot Bitcoin ETFs listed on the US stock market. According to data compiled by BitMEX Research, in addition to In addition to Grayscale's GBTC, the remaining nine spot Bitcoin ETFs have been increasing their Bitcoin reserves since they were approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for listing on January 11.

The reason why spot Bitcoin ETF issuers continue to accumulate  BTC, one thing that cannot be ignored is regulatory requirements, because in the previous approval conditions for spot Bitcoin ETFs, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission required the creation of so-called cash rather than so-called physical objects, which means that the fund issuer is Bitcoins must be purchased with cash when creating stock, or sold for cash when there is excess stock.

Of course, one thing is undeniable. As a stock-like product, ETFs not only provide more capital-efficient trading options, but also open the door to increasing leverage. With a large number of retail users pouring into the market, institutions are expected to gradually enter the cryptocurrency market. Increasing positions will also bring more confidence to institutional and retail investors.

MicroStrategy, another US listed company, can now be regarded as a "veteran" in the Bitcoin market. And every time you add Bitcoin, you can always hit the right time.

Just three days before Bitcoin exceeded $70,000 for the first time on March 8, MicroStrategy "suddenly" made an announcement One day after announcing plans to sell US$600 million in principal amount of convertible senior notes due 2030 to qualified institutional buyers through a private placement, subject to market conditions and other factors, they announced their intention to The issuance scale of convertible senior notes was expanded to US$700 million.

At the end of February, MicroStrategy and its subsidiaries announced another  155.4 million US dollars in cash purchased approximately 3, 000 bitcoins. According to Coinglass the latest data, MicroStrategy 's current bitcoin holdings are approximately 129, 698  If one BTC is priced at more than US$70,000, MicroStrategy's Bitcoin holdings have gained approximately US$7 billion.

MicroStrategy The reason for competing for Bitcoin reserves is probably to "kill two birds with one stone", because in addition to the increase in value of the position itself, its stock price has also begun to rebound at an accelerated pace. According to U.S. stock data, benefiting from the Bitcoin price's breakthrough of US$70,000, MicroStrategy's stock price successfully exceeded US$1,400 and rose to US$1,425.59 at the close of last week, with an increase of 538.82% in the past year. ;, the increase in the past five years has reached an astonishing 861.09%.

At least for now, MicroStrategy’s investment strategy seems to be successful. Since August 2020, the value of MicroStrategy's Bitcoin holdings has increased several times, bringing huge returns to the company's shareholders. It is reported that Michael Saylor, chairman of MicroStrategy, said in his company stock and Bitcoin price After consecutive gains, personal wealth has increased by about $700 million. Michael Saylor is MicroStrategy's largest investor, owning about 12% of the company's shares. He also revealed that he personally owned 17,732 Bitcoins in 2020, so his holdings and positions climbed from US$2.27 billion at the beginning of this week to US$2.96 billion.

Finally, compared to the "high-profile" spot Bitcoin ETFs and MicroStrategy, Elon Musk's Tesla and SpaceX ; It seems to be much lower-key. Although no relevant data was disclosed in the recent financial report (Note: Tesla  and SpaceX have not yet announced the financial report for the first quarter of 2024), according to the monitoring of the on-chain data analysis platform Arkham , Tesla  currently holds approximately 11510 BTC (worth approximately 78 USD) in 68 addresses, and SpaceX holds approximately 28 addresses. ;8290 BTC(worth approximately $560 million), which means that Tesla currently holds 9,720 BTC more Bitcoin reserves than reported in its last earnings report. The balance exceeds approximately 1,789 BTC.

The crypto community is speculating that Tesla has begun buying back Bitcoin or whether the recent change in numbers is due to an accounting error, with some users suggesting the company may have Start buying Bitcoin after the earnings call and may report new purchases during the next financial call.

Why do we need to pay attention to the Bitcoin reserves of listed companies/funds?

Listed companies/funds are important participants in the market economy, and their investment behavior often has benchmark significance. The holding of Bitcoin by listed companies shows that they are optimistic about the future value of Bitcoin, which may attract more investors to pay attention to Bitcoin, thereby driving up the price of Bitcoin.

Not only that, listed companies/funds holding Bitcoin can also increase the market circulation of Bitcoin and make it easier to trade, which is beneficial to Bitcoin. The development of the market can even show its openness to new technologies and enhance the company's image.

Market analysts believe that, driven by listed companies/funds increasing their Bitcoin reserves, more crypto whales may be "stimulated" to enter the market, such as Shortly after MicroStrategy announced that it would continue to buy Bitcoin, HOD L1 5 Capital noticed the buying action of a mysterious whale. This address had recently increased its positions frequently and held a total of about 51064  ; BTC, worth approximately US$3.5 billion.

From this perspective, the investment strategies of listed companies/funds also demonstrate their confidence in the long-term value of Bitcoin, which may encourage other crypto whales Continuing to hold or increase holdings of Bitcoin, coupled with successful investments in spot Bitcoin ETFs, MicroStrategy, and Tesla, may attract other crypto whales to follow suit and may also lead to further increases in the price of Bitcoin.

Of course, Bitcoin is still an emerging asset class and the regulatory environment is not yet complete. Investors need to pay attention to the impact of regulatory policy changes on the Bitcoin reserves of listed companies. Overall, paying attention to the Bitcoin reserves of listed companies/funds can help us understand important information such as market trends, investment risks, company financial conditions and regulatory environment, thereby allowing ordinary investors to make more informed investment decisions.

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