Public companies now hold nearly 1.9 million bitcoin, representing 9.06% of the total supply. Strategy, Metaplanet, and MARA Holdings dominate a rapidly shifting market, but the early 2026 correction is stress-testing accumulation models in real time.
🔑 Key Takeaways
- Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) holds 840,447 BTC, roughly 4% of the total supply
- 192 institutions collectively hold 1,901,970 BTC valued at $121.9 billion
- FASB’s fair-value rule (December 2024) removed the main accounting obstacle
- April 2026’s correction around $67,000-$68,000 pressures balance sheets (Metaplanet: -38.5%)
- The model now extends to ETH and SOL via SharpLink, DeFi Development, and Upexi
Strategy: the pivot of a new treasury model
Five years after Michael Saylor’s pivot in 2020, Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) remains the epicenter of the Digital Asset Treasury Company (DATCO) movement. According to CoinGecko data, the company holds 840,447 BTC, acquired at a total cost of $63.9 billion, representing 4% of bitcoin’s total supply. At July 2025 valuations, these holdings were worth $53.87 billion, implying a multiple of net asset value (mNAV) of 0.81x.
Galaxy Digital notes that Strategy is the third-largest bitcoin holder globally, behind only Satoshi Nakamoto and BlackRock’s spot bitcoin ETF, with over 600,000 BTC accumulated. At mid-2025 highs, unrealized gains exceeded $28 billion. The company continues to pursue its strategy through a $21 billion at-the-market (ATM) program dedicated exclusively to BTC purchases.
Top 10 public companies holding bitcoin
The CoinGecko rankings and data compiled by KuCoin map the principal publicly listed players. Beyond Strategy, Twenty One Capital and Metaplanet anchor the next tier of the DATCO segment.
| Rank | Company | BTC Held | Acquisition Cost | mNAV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Strategy | 840,447 | $63.9B | 0.81x |
| 5 | Twenty One Capital | 43,514 | $2.79B | 1.16x |
| 6 | Metaplanet | 43,000 | $3.81B | 0.61x |
| 7 | MARA Holdings | 35,303 | n/a | n/a |
| 8 | Bitcoin Standard Treasury | 30,021 | n/a | n/a |
| 9 | Galaxy Digital | 25,723 | n/a | n/a |
States also feature prominently: the United States holds 329,693 BTC through the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve created by executive order in March 2025, followed by China (190,000 BTC), the United Kingdom (61,245 BTC), North Korea (13,562 BTC), Bhutan (10,769 BTC), El Salvador (7,474 BTC), and the United Arab Emirates (6,333 BTC).
The regulatory and accounting framework
Three milestones accelerated DATCO adoption. First, the SEC’s approval of spot bitcoin ETFs in January 2024 validated bitcoin’s place in mainstream financial infrastructure. Second, the FASB’s fair-value accounting rule, effective for fiscal periods ending after December 15, 2024, now allows companies to mark bitcoin holdings to market value. Asymmetric impairment charges that had deterred CFOs are gone.
« The FASB rule eliminated the main accounting barrier that had prevented corporate treasurers from allocating a meaningful share of their balance sheet to bitcoin. »
Falcon Rappaport & Berkman, 2025 analysis note
Finally, the U.S. executive order of March 2025 establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve sent a powerful political signal to markets. According to Falcon Rappaport & Berkman, this decision reinforced bitcoin’s credibility in the eyes of corporate treasurers worldwide. In 2025 alone, listed companies and private investors acquired more than 157,000 BTC, over $16 billion at market price.
2026: stress-testing the correction
2026 is testing the profitability of accumulation strategies. After bitcoin pulled back from late-2025 highs, the asset traded in a tight range around $67,000-$68,000 in early April 2026. Strategy, with an average acquisition price of approximately $75,694 per BTC, posted an unrealized loss of around $6.2 billion at those levels, with its mNAV (multiple of net asset value) remaining below the 1x threshold.
The situation is tighter for Metaplanet, whose average acquisition price reaches $107,607 per BTC. According to KuCoin, the company’s net asset value was only about $2.32 billion, implying an unrealized loss of roughly $1.45 billion, or -38.5%. Strive, which accumulated 13,627.9 BTC at a total cost of approximately $1.42 billion (~$104,367 average), posted an unrealized loss of $496.64 million (-34.9%) at a bitcoin price of around $67,924.
To deleverage its balance sheet, MARA Holdings sold 15,133 BTC between March 4 and March 25, 2026, for approximately $1.1 billion. KuCoin reports that proceeds were primarily used to repurchase convertible notes and strengthen the balance sheet as the group expanded into digital energy infrastructure and AI. This deleveraging approach contrasts sharply with Strategy’s passive accumulation strategy.
Beyond bitcoin: an exportable model
The phenomenon no longer stops at bitcoin. Falcon Rappaport & Berkman notes that firms like SharpLink are positioning on ethereum, while DeFi Development, Upexi, and Sol Strategies favor Solana. Galaxy Digital confirms this trend with the emergence of ETH-oriented strategies including staking and DeFi yield, broadening the universe of digital treasury vehicles beyond simple BTC buy-and-hold.
Strategy remains the model’s anchor, but the phenomenon has gone global. Galaxy Digital highlights Metaplanet’s rise in Japan and new international entrants driven by regional capital-markets dynamics. Falcon Rappaport & Berkman points to structures like ProCap Financial combining a traditional SPAC with a bitcoin-specialized lender, illustrating how treasury strategies are evolving beyond passive accumulation.
With 192 institutions collectively holding 1,901,970 BTC worth $121.9 billion, the DATCO segment now represents 9.06% of bitcoin’s total supply. Concentration remains extreme: Strategy alone accounts for roughly 44% of private institutional holdings. Whether these vehicles can absorb future corrections without forced-liquidity pressure will determine if the model enters a healthy consolidation phase or dislocation, mirroring the stress tests observed in the first half of 2026.
Sources
- The Block – Bitcoin Treasuries Dashboard
- Yahoo Finance – Bitcoin Treasury Firms Valuation
- CoinGecko – Bitcoin Treasuries
- Galaxy Digital – Digital Asset Treasury Companies Report
- KuCoin – Top 10 Bitcoin Treasury Companies 2026
- Falcon Rappaport & Berkman – Bitcoin Treasury Companies Analysis
This article is published for informational and educational purposes only. It does not constitute investment advice. Do your own research (DYOR) before making any decision.
