Public companies doubled Bitcoin holdings in 2024 as accumulation surpassed previous 5 years combined

The amount of Bitcoin (BTC) held by public corporations reached 592,112 BTC in 2024, according to Bitcoin Treasuries data.

Bitwise head of research Ryan Rasmussen highlighted that the number is twice as much Bitcoin as institutions accumulated in the previous five years combined.

History of accumulation

On Jan. 1, 2024, the amount of Bitcoin held by publicly listed companies was 272,777 BTC.

Two significant accumulation leaps were registered in 2020 and 2021. During the first year of the COVID pandemic, institutions inched close to a 100,000 BTC stash. This increased significantly the following year, as the corporate-held amount surpassed 200,000 BTC.

However, the momentum was temporarily interrupted as publicly listed companies realized part of their Bitcoin stash, almost losing the 200,000 BTC threshold. The accumulation movement resumed in 2023 and sharply increased last year.

Notably, Rasmussen pointed out that the amount would be “significantly smaller” if Strategy’s stash were excluded. The company, led by Michael Saylor, has over 499,000 BTC in its treasury as of March after adding 257,095 BTC last year via 16 buys.

Rasmussen added that public companies held $52 billion worth of Bitcoin as of March 6, equivalent to 3% of the flagship crypto’s total supply.

An overall leap

The amount of Bitcoin held by various institutional investors also saw significant growth in 2024.

According to Bitcoin Treasuries, private companies, exchange-traded products (ETP) managers, governments, and publicly listed firms held 2,802,135 BTC as of Dec. 31, 2024, compared to 1,622,439 BTC at the start of last year.

This jump is mainly attributed to governments and ETP managers. Governments started last year with 90,379 BTC in their vaults, with the stash growing to 513,791 BTC by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin held by asset managers climbed to 1,289,031 BTC from 771,013 BTC over the same period, while private companies shed their holdings from 488,270 BTC on Jan. 1, 2024 to 407,201 BTC by the end of last year.