Bitcoin Buying By Firms Like MicroStrategy Is An ‘Overlooked Megatrend,’ Bitwise Says

Bitwise Chief Investment Officer (CIO) Matt Hougan said buying and holding Bitcoin by companies like MicroStrategy is an “overlooked megatrend” that could significantly impact the Bitcoin market this year.

Hougan said in a weekly Bitwise memo that 70 publicly traded companies have Bitcoin on their balance sheets, with MicroStrategy leading the way.

“We’ll see hundreds of companies buy bitcoin for their treasuries over the next 12-18 months, and their purchases will lift the entire bitcoin market substantially higher, and their purchases will lift the entire bitcoin market substantially higher,” he said.

MicroStrategy currently holds 447,470 Bitcoin, valued at more than $44 billion. This follows the company’s recent Bitcoin purchase on January 6, where it invested $101 million to acquire 1,070 BTC at a price of $94,004 per coin.

Being highlighted as the “largest corporate Bitcoin of BTC” doesn’t capture the bigger picture of what’s happening. As Hougan emphasized, many investors still see MicroStrategy as an exception, failing to recognize the growing trend of other companies also adopting Bitcoin.

What the CIO shrewdly observed is that MicroStrategy, ranked 220th by market cap, acquired but acquired 257,000 BTC in 2024 alone, which is more than all the Bitcoin mined in the same year (218,829 BTC).

“Let me say that again: A company the size of Chipotle bought more than 100% of the entire new supply of bitcoin in 2024,” added Hougan, emphasizing that “MicroStrategy recently announced plans to raise more than $42 billion to acquire more bitcoin” which is equivalent to around 2.6 years’ worth of new supply.

"I’ve come away thinking that this is a much bigger trend than most people realize. In fact, I think it’s a bona fide megatrend."@Matt_Hougan in this weeks investor memo on the rise of Corporates on the Bitcoin Standard.

Give it a read. Link below — pic.twitter.com/OOyhj9DYgO

— Hunter Horsley (@HHorsley) January 13, 2025

“What happens if really big companies start to take a page from MicroStrategy’s book”, asks Hougan.

Other publicly listed companies, whether in the crypto space or not, have also acquired Bitcoin. These include CoinBase, Tesla, Semlar Scientific, and Mercado Libre, which together hold 141,302 BTC.

Bitwise also owns Bitcoin, like private companies such as SpaceX and Block.one.

Number Of Firms Acquiring Bitcoin Is “Poised To Explode”

Hougan strongly believes that the number of companies buying Bitcoin is “poised to explode,” as reputational risk, once a huge barrier, is about to be completely diminished. With Washington embracing crypto and making it more mainstream, companies feel more freedom to add BTC to their financial sheets.

The second, more important reason for Hougan is the new rule introduced by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), the regulatory body that decides how publicly traded companies must report their financials. The new rule called ASU 2023-08 changes how Bitcoin is accounted for under GAAP.

Previously, GAAP classified Bitcoin as an “intangible asset,” and companies had to write down its value if the price dropped. On the other hand, companies were not allowed to increase it if the price rose. Under the new rule, “companies can mark the value to market and book a profit”, Hougan said.

Hougan emphasized the significant shift in sentiment, stating:

“If 70 companies were willing to add bitcoin to their balance sheets when, from an accounting perspective, it literally could only go down, imagine how many will add it to their balance sheet now. Two hundred? Five hundred? A thousand?”

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