Bitcoin did not change in its essence, but in who has it. And that’s starting to matter more than it seems. Today, more than 1.16 million BTC, about 5.5% of the total that will exist, are in the hands of ten public companies that include it in their treasury strategy.
Only those ten companies concentrate close to a million, with a fact that explains the phenomenon: Strategy alone accumulates more than 75%. The dynamic also occurs in a clearly positive market context for the crypto universe. Bitcoin is already touching US$70,000, while Ethereum is advancing towards US$2,200.
This is not widespread corporate adoption, but rather a growing concentration on publicly traded structures. That change, silent but profound, is beginning to alter how the market works.
Bitcoin changes the logic
For years, Bitcoin moved with a logic of cycles, global liquidity and retail flow. Today a new layer appears. A growing part of the demand no longer comes from wallets, but from corporate balance sheets. And that means that the price also begins to depend on the capital market.
At that point, Strategy is once again the witness case. The company reactivated its accumulation strategy with a recent purchase of 4,871 BTC for almost US$330 million, at an average price of US$67,718. It is not a minor fact: even in a context of volatility and accounting losses, The company continues to consolidate its position as the largest corporate holder in the world. And, in practice, it continues to set the pulse of this phenomenon.
That’s where the comparison with an exchange-traded fund stops sounding exaggerated. Many of these companies function as vehicles that buy Bitcoin and hold it in their wallets.. But they are not passive funds: they trade like stocks, incorporate valuation premiums, take on debt, issue capital and build a narrative. The investor does not buy only BTC, he buys Bitcoin plus financial structure.
That changes the game. On the one hand, it reduces the supply of Bitcoin in the market, As more and more Bitcoin is tied up on balance sheets, out of the liquid circuit.
On the other hand, it transforms demand. The flow no longer depends only on the crypto investor, but also on corporate decisions. If a company manages to issue shares at a premium, it can transform that capital into more BTC. While this mechanism works, it feeds back and pushes the market.
But that logic also has its flipside. If financing becomes more expensive or the premium disappears, the circuit slows down. And that’s where the “giant ETF” starts to show its key difference: It is not a passive instrument, but a procyclical structure.
The new Bitcoin according to experts
Iñaki Apezteguia, co-founder of Crossing Capital, tells iProUP: “The share of corporate treasuries in Bitcoin has already exceeded 5% of the total supply. It currently stands at 5.56%, with 1,167,608 BTC in the custody of 195 public companies.”
“This segment already represents more than US$81.2 billiondriven mainly by Strategy (former MicroStrategy), which concentrates 766,970 BTC, about 66% of the corporate total. Apezteguia clarifies that If the spot ETFs in the United States are added to that, that today:
- They protect 7.07% of the currency (1,483,674 BTC) for a value close to $103,000 million
- The institutional block (including governments and private funds) already concentrates around 18% of total Bitcoin
This means more than 3.8 million BTC outside the free circulation circuit. For the expert, “This sets up a new dynamic: the market begins to behave like a giant institutional ETF. Since the 2024 halving, the rate of accumulation has tripled mining issuance, with purchases equivalent to 2.8 times what is produced daily.”
He highlights that flows into ETFs also show strong resilience: “They have accumulated more than 709,000 net BTC since their launch.” and reach assets under management of US$88,000 million.”
“Even in scenarios of drops of 50%, institutional demand remains firm, with revenues of up to US$1,060 million in a single week, which shows that this is a long-term strategic allocationcomparable in growth speed with gold-linked funds,” he highlights.
The impact on the price is structural. With almost a fifth of the supply In the hands of long-term institutional investors, the market faces a supply shock where corporate demand is constant. “By 2026, additional demand of up to 700,000 BTC by public companies is projected, which increases pressure on prices in a context of decreasing liquidity,” Apezteguia said.
The expert concludes that this institutionalization tends to reduce the extreme volatility of previous cycles, but at the same time raises the asset’s valuation floor. “Bitcoin stops being a speculative experiment and begins to consolidate itself as a professionalized market“, sentence.
Carolina Gama, Country Manager of Bitget for Argentina, adds in statements to this medium that “more than saying that the crypto market is becoming a giant ETF, What we are seeing is a stage of maturation, where institutional capital begins to coexist with retail in a much more structured way.“.
Gama suggests that the fact that close to 5% of Bitcoin is in corporate hands reflects that more and more companies are incorporating it as a reserve asset. “That brings greater stability, liquidity and validation to the ecosystem.” Unlike an ETF, in which the investor has no direct exposure to the asset, in crypto there is still the possibility of self-custody and direct participation, which is a key differential.”
In terms of prices, the entry of institutional entities reduces volatility, “but it can also generate more marked movements in the short term.” Especially when significant inflows or outflows occur. Furthermore, it introduces new dynamics, more linked to macroeconomic factors and corporate decisions,” analyzes the expert.
In short, Gama maintains, “We are not facing a giant ETF, but rather a market that is becoming more sophisticated: institutional participation adds depth and scale, but without losing the decentralized essence that characterizes crypto.”
