Public companies raised their Bitcoin holdings significantly in 2021

The quantity of Bitcoin held by private corporations increased significantly during 2021, compared to the previous year. The amount of BTC held by public companies has gained significant market share since February 2021.

On Monday, on-chain analyst Willy Woo tweeted that public companies holding “significant BTC have gained market share from spot ETFs as a way to access BTC exposure on public equity markets.”

Woo referenced a chart of BTC holdings inside exchange-traded funds (ETF) and public company treasuries available for public ownership via equity markets, based on crowdsourced corporate treasury data.

The data shows that crypto-asset management company Grayscale had gained the highest market share by a landslide at 645,199 BTC by the end of 2021. This took up 71% of the broader market as holdings of all spot ETFs and corporations together totaled 903,988 BTC.

According to Bitcoin Treasuries, MicroStrategy is the largest corporate investor, holding 124,391 BTC valued at around $5.8 billion. Second-placed Tesla holds around 43,200 BTC worth roughly $2 billion at current prices.

In 2020, the amount of BTC held by public companies surged 400% in 12 months to $3.6 billion, as reported by Cointelegraph.

Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy is a leading business intelligence firm known for being particularly bullish on BTC, owning almost $6 billion in crypto assets.

On Thursday, Saylor’s firm purchased a further 1,914 BTC worth $94 million. The company has gained more than $2.1 billion in profit since its initial Bitcoin purchase in August 2020.