Bitcoin holdings of listed companies falls marginally in October

• Only two of the top five Bitcoin holding companies that are publicly traded are in a positive position based on the ratio of BTC's current value to cost.
• Microstrategy continued to accumulate BTC in September despite its stock prices falling.
• October 11 saw a sharp dip in BTC treasury value when compared to October 9. 

In October, the Bitcoin holdings of publicly listed companies, or Bitcoin 'treasuries', saw a slight reduction. Among the top five publicly traded Bitcoin holders, only two—Marathon and Coinbase—are in a profitable position based on the current value-to-cost ratio (NgU in table below). MicroStrategy continues to accumulate BTC, with its Bitcoin holdings valued at approximately $4.5 billion.

Top 5 listed BTC holders

MicroStrategy leads Bitcoin accumulation

The Bitcoin treasury holdings of US listed companies saw a spike from 1.60 million BTC on August 30 to 1.70 million on August 31. Based on data from Bitcoin Treasuries, BTC holdings with publicly listed companies increased to 1.71 million up until October 9, before steeply declining to 1.68 million. 

For BTC holdings, the top contender is MicroStrategy, Inc., with a market capitalization of $4.6 billion. Around 97.5% of this value comes from Bitcoin. The company's Bitcoin balance stands at 158,245 BTC, currently valued at approximately $4.5 billion. 

BTC holdings

MicroStrategy has continued the accumulation of the king coin in 2023, with current Bitcoin value-to-cost ratio at 0.97, indicating the company's Bitcoin holdings value slightly less than the acquisition price of those holdings. The company added 5,445 BTC by September 24, after acquiring 467 BTC in July and 12,333 BTC in June. 

Based on Yahoo Finance data, MicroStrategy had a strong July, with its stock price surpassing the $460 mark. Since then the price has come down to $330 at the time of writing. Last year in August, Michael Saylor stepped down as the company CEO amid expanding losses. 

Marathon Digital Holdings, with a market cap of $1.6 billion, holds 11,466 BTC valued at around $327 million. The ratio that checks in the current value of Bitcoin holdings against cost for the company is at 1.73, placing it in a profitable position. Based on data from Bitcoin Treasuries, Marathon sold 766 BTC in March this year and didn’t make any other purchases. 

Tesla, Inc., with a market cap of $770 billion, maintains a Bitcoin balance of 9,720 BTC, currently valued at $277 million. Despite a low current value-to-cost ratio of 0.82, Tesla continues to be one of the biggest listed holders. This comes despite Tesla narrowing its operating profit margin to 7.6% as per the company’s Q3 2023 earnings report.

Coinbase Global, Inc., with a market cap of $17.5 billion, boasts Bitcoin holdings of 9,480 BTC valued at over $270 million. Coinbase exhibits one of the highest current value-to-cost ratios among the top companies, of 2.31. The Nasdaq-listed exchange has a history of annual accumulation sprees in December 2020, 2021 and 2022 and hasn’t sold its holdings based on data by Bitcoin Treasuries. 

Canada-based Hut 8 Mining Corp, with a market cap of $397 million, holds 8,388 BTC valued at approximately $239 million. 

Publicly traded tech companies appear to be confident in Bitcoin 

Bitcoin treasury value for these companies fell between October 9 and 11 from 1.71 million BTC  to 1.68 million BTC. It has remained stable until October 18. The institutional buying is also clear in the month-to-date flows by CoinShares. As per the report, Bitcoin's MTD is $56.6 million. 

Further looking at Bitcoin exposed equities, it is clear that 74% of technology sector companies have exposure to Bitcoin. 

Bitcoin exposed equities on TradingView

Despite Bitcoin’s price volatility since the FTX collapse, several publicly traded companies, especially technology sector, continue to put confidence in Bitcoin. CoinGecko reveals that 1.23% is the public-company-Bitcoin-dominance ratio, with them holding approximately 239,494 BTC valued at about $6.8 billion.

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