Number Of Public Companies Holding Bitcoin Has Risen By 400% Over The Past 12 Months

Technology researcher Kevin Rooke has been tracking the Bitcoin holdings of public companies over the past two years and according to Rooke, public firms now hold over $3.6 billion of BTC.

“Last year, public companies held fewer than 20,000 BTC on their balance sheets,” Rooke said. “Today, 19 public companies hold 105,837 BTC on their balance sheets, valued at over $3.6 billion.”

MicroStrategy is far and away the biggest Bitcoin holder with 70,784 BTC. GalaxyDigital Holdings is a distant second with just over 16,400 BTC. Square is the largest company by market capitalization among public company holders with around 4,700 BTC.

Public companies alone have accumulated around 85,000 BTC over the last year. An equivalent to $2.67 billion which is indicative of the rapidly growing institutional demand for Bitcoin. This can be seen by the massive surge in trading activity on Grayscale and CME.

Grayscale’s products and the CME Bitcoin futures market both cater primarily towards institutions and have seen a massive rise in volume since mid-2020. This is likely due to institutions growing their exposure towards Bitcoin because of expectations that BTC will develop into an established alternative to gold.

Analysts remain more bullish in the long-term on Bitcoin as BTC trader Alex Kruger noted: “$BTC is stuck in a range within a range: 29K-35K. It can break either way. The key reason I lean bullish is interest rates. Exuberance has rinsed off the system dramatically, as reflected in falling rates. This is a bull market, and traders are now bearish. That’s bullish.”

Investors Looking At Bitcoin To Hedge Holdings

Currently, investors are looking for ways to hedge their holdings and portfolios amid rising inflation and liquidity injections from central banks. Cameron Winklevoss noted that “Inflation robs you of your life’s work.”

“The Argentine peso has lost 50% of its value against USD in the past 3 years. And that’s saying a lot given the current state of the U.S. dollar. No wonder search interest in #Bitcoin is going through the roof.”

Furthermore, if the new Joe Biden administration introduce more stimulus in an effort to ease the current financial crisis, it’s likely to create a more favorable environment for Bitcoin and gold to rally.