Institutional curiosity in Bitcoin is shifting. Public corporations are shopping for extra Bitcoin than exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for the third quarter in a row, persevering with to embrace the technique pioneered by MicroStrategy.
In line with Bitcoin Treasuries information, public corporations bought roughly 131,000 BTC within the second quarter of 2025, growing their whole belongings by 18%, whereas ETFs bought 111,000 BTC in the identical interval, with an 8% development.
In line with Nick Marie, analysis director at Ecoinometrics, the motivation for corporations to purchase Bitcoin is kind of totally different from ETF buyers: “These corporations accumulate BTC with the purpose of accelerating shareholder worth. They’re extra centered on the quantity of BTC of their vaults than the worth stage.”
Marie famous that public corporations elevated their Bitcoin holdings by 4% in April, whereas this improve in ETFs remained at 2% throughout the identical interval. Throughout this era, the market was unstable attributable to President Donald Trump’s first tariff bulletins.
Though ETFs are nonetheless the most important institutional Bitcoin buyers with a complete of 1.4 million BTC (6.8% of the utmost provide), the quantity held by public corporations has reached 855,000 BTC (4%).
This pattern additionally coincides with the regulatory easing seen within the cryptocurrency sector throughout the Trump administration. An government order signed in March introduced the creation of the official US Bitcoin reserve. The final time ETFs purchased extra BTC from public corporations was within the third quarter of 2024, earlier than Trump’s re-election.
Some notable firm strikes within the second quarter additionally drew consideration: GameStop adopted Bitcoin as a reserve asset with the approval of its board of administrators and started buying it. Well being expertise firm KindlyMD merged with Bitcoin funding firm Nakamoto. Well-known investor Anthony Pompliano’s firm ProCap launched its personal BTC buying program whereas getting into the method of going public by way of a particular goal acquisition firm (SPAC).
The pioneer of this pattern and nonetheless the most important consultant, Technique (previously MicroStrategy) is within the lead with 597,000 BTC. It’s adopted by Bitcoin mining firm Mara Holdings with round 50,000 BTC. Ben Werkman, funding director at Swan Bitcoin, notes that Technique’s scale is not going to be straightforward to meet up with: “They’ll proceed to be a sexy vacation spot for institutional capital attributable to their excessive liquidity.”
Against this, Werkman mentioned smaller corporations provide high-yield potential for particular person buyers and small-cap funds. These corporations have the capability to build up Bitcoin on a scale that particular person buyers can not, due to their entry to public capital markets.
Nick Marie, then again, thinks that this pattern will not be long-lasting: “After 10 years, the variety of corporations that adhere to this technique might have decreased. As a result of because the class expands, the influence of particular person corporations will probably be diluted. Additionally, BTC might have fully normalized by then.”
Investor curiosity stays robust. These corporations provide engaging leveraged funding autos for buyers who already imagine in Bitcoin, in response to Werkman. “These corporations provide not simply Bitcoin, however Bitcoin-backed appreciation backed by working revenue. That’s what makes them distinctive,” he says.
*This isn’t funding recommendation.
