Bitcoin is approaching $100,000. An inventory of the institutional forces behind more than 2.7 million BTC holdings

Bitcoin broke through the $97,000 mark today, setting a new record high. As the price of Bitcoin continues to soar, the global call to include Bitcoin in national reserve assets is growing louder, and many institutions are also accelerating their pace of increasing their Bitcoin holdings. According to the latest data from BitcoinTreasuries.com, as of November 21, there are 93 entities (ETFs, countries, publicly traded companies, and private companies) that publicly hold more than 2.728 million Bitcoins, accounting for nearly 13% of the total Bitcoin supply. This trend further indicates that institutional investors have gradually replaced retail investors as the dominant force in the market during this bull run.

ETFs: Assets worth over $110 billion, IBIT holdings account for over 38%

Bitcoin spot ETFs have become an important investment channel for institutions. According to BitcoinTreasuries.com data, as of November 21, Bitcoin spot ETFs hold more than 1.231 million Bitcoins, with a current value of over $116.89 billion, accounting for more than 5.8% of the total Bitcoin supply. Meanwhile, data from The Block shows that since their launch earlier this year, US Bitcoin spot ETFs have accumulated trading volume of over $520 billion. In terms of asset size, the top three Bitcoin spot ETFs are currently BlackRock's IBIT, Grayscale's GBTC, and Fidelity's FBTC. Among them, BlackRock's IBIT holds 475,000 Bitcoins, making it the ETF with the largest holdings, with a portfolio value of about $45.05 billion, accounting for about 38.6% of the total ETF holdings. Fintel's statistics show that IBIT has 698 institutional holders, with a total shareholding of nearly 160 million shares, including Millennium Management, Goldman Sachs, IMC, Aristeia, Capula Management, Schonfeld, Morgan Stanley, and Graham Capital Management. Grayscale's GBTC holds more than 218,000 Bitcoins, worth over $20.71 billion. Fintel's statistics show that GBTC has 647 institutional holders, with a total of 444.59 million shares. GBTC's shareholders include trust funds under HorizonKinetics, Goldman Sachs, Multicoin Capital, LPL Financial, Greenwich Wealth Management, Colony Group, and HighTower Advisors. Fidelity's FBTC follows closely with 194,000 Bitcoins, with a portfolio value of $18.42 billion. Fintel's statistics show that FBTC has 246 institutional holders, with a total of over 5.1688 million shares, including Millennium Management, Capula Management, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors, DE Shaw & Co., Hina International Group, Jane Street, Hbk Investments LP, Goldman Sachs, and Pine Ridge Advisers.

Countries: Holding nearly 530,000 Bitcoins, with the US, China, and the UK accounting for nearly half

Many countries have become important holders of Bitcoin. PANews previously reported that more and more governments are currently re-evaluating the asset value of Bitcoin, and some are even publicly advocating for the inclusion of Bitcoin in national reserve assets. According to BitcoinTreasuries.com's statistics, as of November 21, the 9 known countries collectively hold more than 529,000 Bitcoins (worth about $50.24 billion), accounting for 2.5% of the total Bitcoin supply. Among these countries, the United States, China, and the United Kingdom are the main forces, holding 207,000, 194,000, and 61,000 Bitcoins respectively, accounting for 46.2% of the total holdings of these countries. However, the Bitcoins held by these countries are mostly obtained through law enforcement actions, while only Bhutan and El Salvador have obtained Bitcoins through mining or purchasing with fiat currency.

Public Companies: Holding over $42.2 billion in value, with MicroStrategy accounting for nearly 80%

Public companies are becoming an important force in Bitcoin allocation. According to BitcoinTreasuries.com data, as of November 21, 43 publicly traded companies directly hold nearly 445,000 Bitcoins, currently worth about $42.22 billion, including MicroStrategy, Marathon Digital, Riot Platforms, Tesla, Hut 8, and Coinbase Global. For example, MicroStrategy holds more than 331,000 Bitcoins (worth over $31.43 billion), accounting for nearly 74.4% of the total Bitcoin holdings of public companies. Calculated at the current Bitcoin price of around $97,000, MicroStrategy's holdings have a paper gain of over $14.6 billion. Leveraging its Bitcoin investment strategy, MicroStrategy has risen to become one of the top 100 publicly traded companies in the US by market capitalization, and its stock price has soared. Tradingview data shows that its stock MSTR had a trading volume of $33.27 billion on November 20, second only to Nvidia. MicroStrategy has not stopped buying Bitcoin, and the company recently announced that it will increase the size of its zero-coupon convertible senior notes offering to $2.6 billion, with a portion of the net proceeds to be used to purchase Bitcoin, and it also disclosed plans to raise funds through stock issuance and sales to buy Bitcoin, with $15.3 billion in unused capacity. Bitcoin miner Marathon Digital holds nearly 26,000 Bitcoins, currently worth about $2.46 billion. Marathon Digital's Bitcoins mainly come from mining and fund purchases, with its Q3 financial report showing that it produced 2,070 Bitcoins and purchased 6,210 Bitcoins in the quarter. Marathon Digital is also issuing $850 million in convertible notes, which can be expanded to $1 billion, to repurchase debt and acquire Bitcoin. After announcing the purchase of $1.5 billion in Bitcoin in 2021, Tesla sold 4,320 Bitcoins in March 2021 and 29,160 Bitcoins in 2022, selling about 75% of its Bitcoin holdings. Tesla still holds 9,720 Bitcoins, currently worth over $920 million, but this only accounts for less than 0.7% of Tesla's total assets ($119.8 billion) and only 0.046% of the total Bitcoin supply.

Private Companies: Reserves worth over $34.81 billion

Many private crypto companies also hold a significant amount of Bitcoin. According to BitcoinTreasuries.com data, as of November 21, 12 private companies, including Block.one, Tether, Xapo Bank, BitMEX, and Mt. Gox, collectively hold about 367,000 Bitcoins, currently worth over $34.81 billion, accounting for 1.7% of the total Bitcoin supply. For example, Block.one holds 140,000 Bitcoins, worth over $13.28 billion, with its Bitcoins mainly coming from ICO fundraising. After announcing in 2022 that it would use Bitcoin as part of its asset reserves, Tether now holds more than 82,000 Bitcoins, worth over $7.82 billion. Crypto bank Xapo Bank holds nearly 34,000 Bitcoins, worth over $3.69 billion, and this year became the first bank in the UK to launch interest-bearing Bitcoin and fiat currency bank accounts.

Bitcoin Miners: Holding less than 0.3% of the total Bitcoin supply

Crypto mining companies are also important Bitcoin holders. According to BitcoinTreasuries.com data, as of November 21, 14 Bitcoin mining companies collectively hold more than 61,000 Bitcoins, currently worth $5.84 billion, accounting for less than 0.3% of the total Bitcoin supply. Among them, the aforementioned Marathon Digital is the Bitcoin mining company with the largest holdings, far exceeding other similar companies. Riot Platforms ranks second with about 10,000 Bitcoins, but its latest quarterly report shows significant losses, with the majority of its revenue coming from Bitcoin mining. Hut 8 ranks third with 9,109 Bitcoins, and after receiving a $150 million investment in June, the company is committed to building AI-related infrastructure and has purchased a large number of mining machines from Bitmain, as well as collaborating to launch new mining machines. Original Link

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