Benzinga and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below.
The cryptocurrency landscape has witnessed a significant shift as corporations increasingly adopt bitcoin as a treasury asset. While this trend has contributed to bitcoin’s recent price surge, it may also be creating new vulnerabilities in the market that warrant careful consideration.
Corporate adoption of bitcoin has accelerated notably, with companies following the playbook pioneered by MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR). According to Bitcoin Treasuries data, 110 publicly listed companies globally now hold bitcoin, representing a substantial institutional commitment to the digital asset.
Don’t Miss:
Standard Chartered’s analysis focuses on a refined sample of 61 companies that purchase bitcoin purely as a treasury holding, excluding industry participants like miners, exchanges, and service providers. This subset collectively owned nearly 674,000 bitcoins as of May’s end—representing 3.2% of bitcoin’s total 21 million coin supply.
The numbers tell a compelling story: these “bitcoin treasuries” have doubled their holdings over just two months, accumulating close to 100,000 additional bitcoins during this period. This buying pressure has been a key factor driving bitcoin to recent all-time highs.
However, Standard Chartered’s analysis reveals a concerning dynamic that could eventually reverse this supportive trend. Unlike Strategy, which accumulated bitcoin over time at various price points, many newer corporate entrants have purchased at significantly higher average prices.
The bank’s research suggests that approximately half of the monitored corporate treasuries would find themselves underwater if bitcoin fell below $90,000. This creates a potential domino effect where companies that entered the bitcoin treasury strategy during price peaks could become forced sellers during market downturns.
The risk stems from several interconnected factors:
Purchase Price Disparities: Most corporate treasuries in Standard Chartered’s sample have average purchase prices well above Strategy’s cost basis, making them more vulnerable to market volatility.
NAV Multiple Justification: Currently, companies holding bitcoin trade at Net Asset Value multiples above 1, justified by market inefficiencies such as regulatory constraints and conservative institutional investment processes. As these barriers diminish over time, the premium valuations may compress.
Corporate Pain Thresholds: Unlike dedicated cryptocurrency companies, traditional corporations may have lower tolerance for significant losses on treasury holdings. Standard Chartered estimates that newer entrants likely couldn’t withstand a 50% decline from their average purchase price—a threshold that Strategy weathered during the 2022 crypto winter.
Trending: New to crypto? Get up to $400 in rewards for successfully completing short educational courses and making your first qualifying trade on Coinbase.
The analysis suggests that if bitcoin drops more than 22% below companies’ average purchase prices, forced selling could emerge. This creates a feedback loop where price declines trigger corporate selling, potentially accelerating further declines.
This dynamic differs markedly from Strategy’s experience in November 2022, when bitcoin halved but the company maintained its position. Several factors may have aided Strategy’s resilience: smaller absolute dollar losses at the time, the absence of U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs providing alternative exposure, and the company’s fundamental commitment to bitcoin as a long-term strategy.
This corporate treasury trend presents both opportunities and risks for the broader bitcoin market:
Positive Factors: Corporate adoption provides institutional legitimacy and substantial buying pressure that has supported recent price appreciation.
Risk Factors: The concentration of recent purchases at higher price levels creates potential selling pressure during market stress, possibly amplifying volatility.
Timing Considerations: As market inefficiencies that currently justify premium valuations are resolved, bitcoin treasuries could shift from price supporters to sources of downside pressure.
While corporate bitcoin adoption represents a significant maturation of the cryptocurrency market, investors should recognize that these treasury strategies may behave differently than those of dedicated bitcoin companies during market stress.
The sustainability of this trend will likely depend on bitcoin’s price stability and these companies’ ability to maintain their positions through potential volatility. As Standard Chartered notes, the question isn’t whether these companies will face pressure, but rather how much volatility they can withstand before strategic considerations shift.
For market participants, understanding these dynamics becomes crucial as corporate treasuries represent an increasingly significant portion of bitcoin’s circulating supply. Their behavior during the next major market downturn will provide important insights into the resilience of this newer form of institutional bitcoin adoption.
Read Next:
Image: Shutterstock
This article Are Companies About to Dump Their Bitcoin? The Warning Signs Are Here originally appeared on Benzinga.com
