Public companies now hold 1.22 million BTC — approximately 5.8% of circulating supply — across an estimated 187 firms, up from fewer than 30 in early 2024. Strategy Inc. alone holds 818,334 BTC valued at $64.1 billion, more than the next five public holders combined. The corporate Bitcoin treasur...
"I believe in math over ideology. At the point where selling bitcoin versus selling equity to pay a dividend is better for our bitcoin-per-share, and for our common shareholders, we will do it." — Phong Le, CEO, Strategy Inc. (Q1 2026 Earnings Call, May 5, 2026)
Public companies now hold 1.22 million BTC — approximately 5.8% of circulating supply — across an estimated 187 firms, up from fewer than 30 in early 2024. Strategy Inc. alone holds 818,334 BTC valued at $64.1 billion, more than the next five public holders combined. The corporate Bitcoin treasury model, once celebrated as an "infinite money glitch" by its advocates, is entering a structural stress test.
On May 5, 2026, Strategy's management broke its four-year "never sell" pledge, acknowledging that selling Bitcoin to fund $1.5 billion in annual preferred dividend obligations was now on the table. Polymarket traders subsequently priced an 82% probability that Strategy sells Bitcoin before year-end. Meanwhile, 40% of publicly traded Bitcoin treasury firms trade below their net asset value, breaking the equity-premium flywheel that fueled the model's expansion. The corporate Bitcoin treasury sector has moved from accumulation euphoria to a reckoning over financial engineering, dilution math, and the sustainability of yield promises backed by a single volatile asset.
As of May 26, 2026, publicly traded companies report combined holdings of 1,215,993 BTC, according to BitcoinTreasuries. Public firms added 50,351 BTC in Q1 2026 alone, and institutions are now buying at 2.8 times the rate of new mining supply. The top five corporate holders by BTC count:
| Company | Ticker | BTC Held | Approx. Value | |---------|--------|----------|---------------| | Strategy Inc. | MSTR | 843,738 | ~$66B | | Twenty One Capital | XXI | 43,514 | ~$3.4B | | Metaplanet Inc. | 3350.T | 40,177 | ~$3.1B | | MARA Holdings | MARA | 35,303 | ~$2.8B | | Bullish | BLSH | 24,300 | ~$1.9B |
Strategy's dominance is outsized. The firm controls roughly 69% of the top-five holdings and approximately 3.9% of Bitcoin's total circulating supply. This concentration means any forced liquidation by Strategy would constitute a market-moving event.
Strategy's capital structure has grown into one of the most complex instruments in public markets. The company operates under its expanded "42/42 Plan" — a commitment to raise $42 billion in equity and $42 billion in fixed-income instruments to fund Bitcoin purchases. As of May 2026, the plan is 36% complete: $18.6 billion raised through equity ($23.4 billion remaining) and $35.3 billion raised through fixed income ($5.0 billion remaining).
The convertible debt stack totals $6.7 billion in aggregate principal, down from $8.2 billion after a $1.5 billion buyback of 0% notes due 2029. Maturities are staggered: $1.01 billion due September 2028 (0.625%), $1.6 billion across two tranches due March 2030 (0% and 0.625%), $604 million due March 2031 (0.875%), and $3.0 billion due June 2032 (2.25%).
The company's preferred equity instrument — Stretch Preferred Stock (STRC) — carries an 11.5% annualized dividend on $3.4 billion in stated value, translating to approximately $1.2 billion in annual dividend obligations. Strategy reports $2.25 billion in cash reserves to cover these payments, providing roughly 30 months of coverage without selling Bitcoin or raising additional capital.
In Q1 2026, Strategy purchased 89,599 BTC at an average price of $80,900, deploying $7.3 billion. The company's key performance indicator — Bitcoin Per Share (BPS) — rose to 213,371 satoshis per share from 181,030 a year earlier, an 18% year-over-year increase. Year-to-date BTC yield stands at 9.4%, compared to 22.8% for full-year 2025.
For four years, Michael Saylor's position was unambiguous: Strategy would never sell its Bitcoin. That doctrine cracked on May 5 during the Q1 earnings call.
CEO Phong Le framed it as arithmetic, not philosophy. Strategy could sell Bitcoin at cost basis, realize no taxable gain, and use the proceeds to cover STRC dividend obligations — an option Le characterized as potentially unlocking a $2.2 billion tax benefit. Le stated on the call: "We will sell bitcoin when it's advantageous to the company," adding that the firm intended to remain "net aggregators of bitcoin — increasing our total bitcoin, but more importantly, increasing our bitcoin per share."
The market response was immediate. MSTR shares dropped 4% on the day. By May 16, Polymarket priced an 82% probability that Strategy would sell Bitcoin before year-end 2026, up from negligible odds at the start of the year.
The shift reflects structural pressure. STRC's 11.5% coupon generates $1.2 billion in annual obligations. While Strategy's cash runway extends approximately 30 months, the dividend rate has already been raised once — from 11.25% to 11.50% in March — and a shareholder vote on June 8 could shift payments from monthly to semi-monthly frequency. Each incremental cost increase narrows the margin between "can avoid selling" and "must sell."
No confirmed Bitcoin sales have occurred as of late May 2026.
Strategy's apparent success through 2024 and early 2025 spawned dozens of imitators. The model appeared simple: issue equity or convertible debt at a premium to Bitcoin NAV, buy Bitcoin, and watch per-share BTC exposure grow. When shares trade above NAV, every capital raise is mathematically accretive.
Japan's Metaplanet acquired 5,075 BTC in Q1 2026 for approximately $405 million, lifting its total to 40,177 BTC and vaulting past MARA Holdings into third place globally. Under its "555 Million Plan," Metaplanet targets 100,000 BTC by year-end and 210,000 BTC by the end of 2027, funded by share and warrant sales totaling up to $413 million.
Strive Inc., operating through its Variable Rate Series A Perpetual Preferred Stock (SATA), set consecutive weekly acquisition records in May 2026. In the week ending May 22 alone, Strive purchased 1,109 BTC at an average price of $76,989, bringing total holdings to 16,500 BTC valued at over $1.2 billion. Starting June 16, SATA dividends shift from periodic to daily payouts.
Twenty One Capital, led by CEO Jack Mallers, holds 43,514 BTC in second place among public companies. Notably, Twenty One has already abandoned the "Bitcoin Per Share" metric that Strategy treats as its primary KPI — an early sign of divergence among treasury firms on how to measure success.
The growth in entrants has been rapid. Companies spanning sectors from coffee (Vanadi Coffee) to media (K Wave Media) to telecommunications (Sequans) adopted Bitcoin treasury strategies in 2025. Total corporate spending on crypto asset acquisitions reached an estimated $42.7 billion in 2025 alone.
The treasury model's viability depends on one condition: shares must trade at or above NAV. When shares trade at a premium, equity issuance is accretive — new shares buy more Bitcoin per existing share. When shares trade at a discount, the flywheel reverses.
By March 2026, approximately 40% of publicly traded Bitcoin treasury firms were trading below their net asset value, according to DL News. The discounts range from modest to severe:
Strategy's mNAV (modified NAV multiple — market cap divided by Bitcoin NAV adjusted for cash and debt) sat at 1.03x as of May 2026, down from a peak of 2.8x in late 2024. The November 2025 trough reached 0.97x — meaning the market briefly valued Strategy below its Bitcoin holdings net of liabilities.
The consequences are mechanical. A company trading below NAV cannot issue new equity without destroying per-share BTC exposure. Every share sold at a discount dilutes existing holders' claim on the Bitcoin stack. This eliminates the primary growth mechanism and forces firms toward debt issuance, Bitcoin sales, or operational restructuring.
A January 2026 analysis published in The Regulatory Review identified what it termed the "hidden Bitcoin leverage trap" in Digital Asset Treasury (DAT) companies. The core problem: investors buying DAT shares already own a leveraged instrument (the company uses debt to buy Bitcoin), and many compound this by using margin to purchase the shares themselves.
Strategy's Bitcoin Beta — the sensitivity of MSTR stock to Bitcoin price movements — reached 1.34 in early 2026. In practice, MSTR often falls 1.6x faster than Bitcoin during drawdowns. Approximately 52% of MSTR's total risk is idiosyncratic — tied to the company's capital structure, governance, and non-Bitcoin operations — rather than to Bitcoin price movements.
This creates a feedback loop: Bitcoin price declines reduce the company's NAV, which pressures the stock price, which constrains the company's ability to raise new equity, which limits its capacity to buy more Bitcoin, which can force asset sales that further depress Bitcoin's price. The loop accelerates in environments where multiple treasury firms face simultaneous pressure.
The risk is concentrated. Strategy alone holds 3.9% of circulating Bitcoin supply. A forced liquidation scenario — while currently remote given $2.25 billion in cash and staggered debt maturities — would inject significant sell pressure into a market where daily spot volumes typically range from $20-40 billion.
Not all participants are staying the course. K Wave Media announced plans in late May 2026 to redirect up to $485 million in planned Bitcoin treasury funding toward AI data centers. French telecom firm Sequans is also pivoting away from BTC-focused balance sheet strategies.
These exits suggest a bifurcation: well-capitalized firms with access to cheap capital (Strategy, Metaplanet, Strive) continue accumulating, while smaller entrants that adopted the model opportunistically are retreating as NAV premiums evaporate.
MARA Holdings, the largest Bitcoin miner by market capitalization, occupies a middle ground. Its 35,303 BTC treasury is partially self-funded through mining operations, reducing dependence on the equity-premium flywheel. This model may prove more durable than pure treasury plays that rely entirely on capital markets for accumulation.
The corporate Bitcoin treasury model has scaled from an experiment to an asset class in under two years. Its growth has been driven by a specific financial mechanism — issuing equity above NAV to buy Bitcoin — that functions only under favorable market conditions. When 40% of participants trade below NAV and the sector's flagship company abandons its core pledge, the mechanism is under stress.
Strategy's $66 billion Bitcoin position is not immediately threatened. Cash reserves cover 30 months of preferred dividends, convertible maturities are staggered, and the company continues net accumulation. But the shift from "never sell" to "sell when it's advantageous" reflects a material change in the model's economics. The question facing the sector is not whether Bitcoin treasury strategies can work — Strategy's 18% year-over-year BPS growth demonstrates they can — but whether they can survive a prolonged period without equity premiums and cheap capital.
For now, the sector is bifurcating between firms with the capital structure to endure and those being forced to exit. The outcome will determine whether corporate Bitcoin treasuries become a permanent feature of public markets or a leverage artifact of the 2024-2025 cycle.