Bitcoin Drives Into Corporate Crypto Treasuries

A searing rise in the bitcoin price is drawing a new cohort of public companies on to Wall Street, each intent on filling its balance-sheet with digital coins before the window of investor exuberance snaps shut.

Since early April the world’s largest cryptocurrency has surged 50 per cent to a record $111,965, and the ripple effects are visible in corporate filings. According to BitcoinTreasuries.net the tally of quoted businesses that now declare bitcoin holdings has leapt from 89 to 113 in barely two months, together owning more than 800,000 tokens worth about $88 billion.

Chief executives say they are chasing the playbook of Strategy, the US software group formerly known as MicroStrategy, whose relentless purchasing has turned it into a de facto leveraged bitcoin fund. Strategy’s 580,000-coin hoard underpins a stock-market valuation north of $100 billion and has emboldened rivals to believe equity investors will bankroll similarly ambitious plans.

That conviction is translating into an unusually busy fund-raising calendar. On Tuesday the media company run by the Trump family confirmed plans to raise $2.5 billion specifically to acquire cryptocurrencies, a deal expected to arrive before the summer break. Days earlier the video-games retailer GameStop, folk hero of the 2021 meme-stock frenzy, disclosed the purchase of 4,710 coins now worth just over $500 million, citing a wish to “diversify and hedge” its cash.

Flurry of vehicles lines up

The disclosure wave goes much further. Twenty One Capital, a venture led by Strike founder Jack Mallers and backed by SoftBank and stable-coin operator Tether, intends to list through a merger with Cantor Equity Partners, the vehicle controlled by Brandon Lutnick, son of US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick. Regulatory filings show the new entity will inherit 42,000 coins and raise fresh equity to buy more.

Across the ledger Strive Asset Management, the investment boutique co-founded by Republican politician Vivek Ramaswamy, has struck a share-for-share deal that will give it a public quotation and, it hopes, up to $1.5 billion for an inaugural buying spree. American Bitcoin, a miner part-owned by Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump, is tying up with Gryphon Digital Mining to achieve the same aim. Meanwhile blank-cheque company Nakamoto Holdings is combining with opioid-care provider KindlyMD to build a corporate stash, its chief executive David Bailey promising to “package bitcoin into various forms” for mainstream buyers.

Much of the deal-making is being hatched on the sidelines of the industry’s annual Bitcoin conference, held this week at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Last year the gathering drew a campaign-trail appearance from Donald Trump, who promised to make America “the bitcoin super-power of the world” if re-elected. Delegates this time describe a buoyant mood, helped by a friendlier regulatory tone from Washington and a lull in US-China trade tensions.

Markets embrace the story

“As long as those conditions persist, investors will keep hunting for the next Strategy,” said Aaron Chan, digital-asset strategist at Dutch market-maker Flow Traders. He notes that subdued equity volatility and a Fed still signalling patience have compressed risk premia, making it cheaper for issuers to sell stock or convertible paper tied to future crypto purchases.

Market enthusiasm is already evident in valuations. Cantor Equity Partners’ pro-forma enterprise value stands near $14.4 billion, more than triple the notional worth of its initial coin allocation. Shares in Gryphon have climbed 120 per cent since unveiling the American Bitcoin tie-up; KindlyMD is up 540 per cent; and thinly traded Asset Entities, Strive’s proposed partner, has soared 1,240 per cent since 12 May.

Strategy’s guiding light and potential limits

For the industry the original template remains Michael Saylor. Beginning in 2020 he re-engineered Strategy’s corporate treasury on to a “bitcoin standard”, funding successive purchases with a mix of common shares, preferred stock and convertible bonds. The gambit has worked: Strategy shares have outperformed even bitcoin itself, as equity investors bet the firm will amass coins faster than it dilutes existing holders.

The approach has also created knock-on demand for the underlying token. “Every dollar of equity Strategy raises is a dollar of price-insensitive buying in the market,” said Christophe Roehri, deputy chief executive of Paris asset manager TOBAM, which owns $3.9 million of Strategy stock. “The new treasuries will add to that mechanical bid.”

Yet analysts warn that replicating Saylor’s feat will not be straightforward. “Investor appetite for bitcoin-linked securities is not automatic,” cautioned Patrick Bush, senior digital-asset analyst at VanEck. “Saylor’s profile and evangelical message are part of the equation. Without a compelling narrative, the magic may not work.”

Roehri notes that even Strategy controls only 2.7 per cent of the outstanding supply – modest by traditional corporate standards. “These newcomers are starting from a far smaller base. Whether they can move the market materially remains to be seen,” he said.

Macro clouds on the horizon

There are broader headwinds. Flow Traders’ Chan warns that President Trump’s unpredictable tariff policy or a sudden resurgence of inflation could whip up volatility and shut the issuance window. “Capital-market capacity is the limiting factor. If yields spike or equity indices wobble, investors will be less receptive to balance-sheet plays from newcomers,” he said.

Proponents counter that bitcoin’s fixed cap of 21 million tokens means persistent corporate demand will squeeze supply whatever the macro backdrop; roughly 19.7 million have already been mined. The latest halving of the block reward in April has amplified that scarcity message.

Whether a virtuous circle truly takes hold will depend on how long investors are willing to bankroll companies whose business model rests on the premise that the next buyer will pay more for a rarer asset. For the moment, though, surging prices, charismatic founders and a gush of cheap capital are combining to keep the presses in New York and Silicon Valley running full tilt.