5 Top Companies That Own Bitcoin

While one of Bitcoin’s main appeals is its decentralized nature, large institutions have begun investing heavily in the cryptocurrency in recent years.

 

As of January 2022, public companies own just over 1 percent of all the Bitcoin in existence. Here are five of the top companies that own Bitcoin and how they have integrated digital currencies into their business models.

 

Business intelligence software company Microstrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) is perhaps the most aggressively bullish corporate holder of Bitcoin.

 

According to statements by CEO Michael Saylor, the firm intends to hold its Bitcoin stockpile indefinitely. Even in the event of a prolonged bear market, Saylor claims, Microstrategy would continue to hold Bitcoin rather than sell.

 

The company controls approximately $5 billion worth of the digital currency. It also has the distinction of being the first publicly traded US company to keep Bitcoin on its balance sheet.

Despite claiming to be against selling any of its current holdings, Microstrategy does appear to be slowing its Bitcoin purchases. In January 2022, the company purchased 660 Bitcoin. The month before, the number was 1,914. The January purchases brought the total number of Bitcoin under Microstrategy’s control to just over 125,000.

 

Aggressive acquisitions and an unwillingness to sell may work out well in the long run. In 2021, though, the company actually lost a substantial amount of money by pursuing its current Bitcoin strategy. In total, Microstrategy reported losses of $831 million on its digital assets last year.

 

Microstrategy is one of few cases where the role of Bitcoin in the broader business is somewhat unclear. While it is clearly viewed as an asset, the company’s total unwillingness to sell raises questions about what its future plans might be. Without a strategy for liquidating its massive Bitcoin holdings, the firm seems to be left with an asset it has committed to never selling under any circumstances.

 

While Microstrategy may have been the first company to keep Bitcoin on its books, electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) is well-known for its connection to the cryptocurrency. Last year, CEO Elon Musk even announced that it would be possible to buy Tesla vehicles in Bitcoin without first converting the coins to dollars.

 

Tesla’s holdings are quite a bit smaller than Microstrategy’s. As of Q4 2021, the company held $1.26 billion in the digital currency. That amount reflected no change in holding from the previous period.

 

Tesla also doesn’t continue to acquire new Bitcoin on a month-to-month basis. Its most recent major acquisition was a $1.5 billion purchase last February.

Tesla is also substantially less attached to its Bitcoin bullishness than Microstrategy. Despite its extensive holdings, the company has shown itself willing to sell under the correct conditions.

 

During Q1 of last year, Tesla sold off about 10 percent of its Bitcoin. As a result, it appears that Tesla is treating Bitcoin more like a trading vehicle than simply a long-term store of value.

 

Apart from Tesla, Musk himself is also famously bullish on the concept of cryptocurrencies. The innovative CEO has long endorsed the once-joke currency Dogecoin. As long as Musk remains at the head of Tesla (TSLA), it seems reasonable to assume that the company will continue to include cryptocurrency in its future business plans.

 

Formerly known as Square, payment processing company Block (NYSE:SQ) has very strong ties to Bitcoin. The company has embraced cryptocurrencies as part of its core business model, even going so far as to allow users to give Bitcoin as holiday gifts last year.

 

The company’s payment processing tools also make it simple for users to pay each other in Bitcoin. In fact, even the company’s name change from Square to Block is a reference to the blockchain technology that powers Bitcoin.

 

Block has done remarkably well for itself by strategically buying and selling Bitcoin on the open market. During the most recent quarter, the company generated some $42 million in profits through Bitcoin trading. While this was only a small part of its overall $1.1 billion in gross profits, the numbers involved do show the potential of active trading as a source of revenue for Block.

Block’s long-term strategy also hinges on increasing consumer use of digital currencies like Bitcoin. The company is actively encouraging the development of decentralized finance (DeFi) applications. By increasing consumer access to financial products based on Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies, Block hopes to finally make digital currencies a part of day-to-day financial life.

 

Unlike other companies that hold Bitcoin, Block is even approaching the market from the hardware side. Early this year, the company announced that it would begin researching new mining hardware. Block’s goal in this area is to make mining more distributed, accessible and affordable than it has been for the last several years.

 

While this project is still in its very early stages, it clearly shows Block’s intention to be at the center of the Bitcoin ecosystem going forward.

 

As a major cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) is deeply involved in the buying and selling process for Bitcoin. However, it also keeps some holdings of its own. As of mid-2021, Coinbase held just under 4,500 Bitcoin. This number is quite low, especially in comparison to the 125,000 held by Microstrategy.

 

Unlike other companies on this list, though, Coinbase has an extensive portfolio of cryptocurrency beyond just Bitcoin. In August, the company announced it would invest $500 million into various digital currencies. These included Ethereum and DeFi tokens. So, while Coinbase’s Bitcoin holdings seem quite small, its exposure to the broader crypto market remains considerable.

In spite of its small holdings, Coinbase has still seen impressive growth in its crypto portfolio. Many of the assets it holds today were purchased in the early days of the company, allowing it to take advantage of the explosive growth of the crypto market in recent years.

 

At the end of 2020, the company’s holdings were valued at over $316 million. This was up from just $34 million in 2019, showing how considerable the gains on some of these assets have been for Coinbase.

 

Finally, Latin American e-commerce giant MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) has made substantial investments in Bitcoin recently. The company made its first purchase of Bitcoin in 2021, marking its official entry into the crypto market. That acquisition was relatively small, coming in at just $7.8 million.

 

At the time, MercadoLibre did not make it clear why it had purchased Bitcoin or whether more acquisitions were to come.

Now, however, it appears that cryptocurrency is part of the company’s overall strategy going forward. In January 2022, the company invested in two smaller blockchain firms, evidently with the intention of working to develop new parts of the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

 

With its holdings and investments in the Bitcoin world, MercadoLibre appears to be planning a drive toward cryptocurrency adoption in Latin America. Access to cryptocurrencies in emerging markets could prove quite profitable for MercadoLibre, which has already introduced these markets to online sales very effectively.

 

As you can see, buying, holding and selling Bitcoin is becoming an increasingly large part of modern business. While the majority of publicly traded companies still don’t have the cryptocurrency on their balance sheets, trends point toward more widespread adoption by companies.

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