Publicly traded companies have reached a significant milestone in Bitcoin 
$91,967 adoption, collectively accumulating over 1,000,000 BTC. As institutional belief around the asset continues to grow, this stockpile represents nearly 5% of Bitcoin’s fixed supply of 21 million.
The Growing Influence of Institutional Bitcoin Holders
From leading corporate treasuries to Bitcoin mining firms and ETF issuers, the presence of publicly traded companies in the market has expanded significantly in recent years. Among institutional Bitcoin owners, Strategy, co-founded by Michael Saylor and a pioneer in Bitcoin accumulation since August 2020, stands at the forefront. Today, Strategy controls 636,505 BTC, making it the clear leader among institutional treasuries.
The gap with the second-largest holder is considerable, with MARA Holdings owning 52,477 BTC, having added just 705 BTC in August. Yet, new players rapidly form substantial positions. For instance, Jack Mallers’ XXI already commands 43,514 BTC, while the Bitcoin Standard Treasury Company holds 30,021 BTC.
Other prominent names include Bullish, with 24,000 BTC, and Metaplanet, holding 20,000 BTC. Publicly listed entities such as Riot Platforms, Trump Media & Technology Group, CleanSpark, and Coinbase are becoming increasingly important participants in this fast-growing trend of institutional accumulation.
The Hidden Crisis in the Bitcoin Network
The rising popularity of Bitcoin on Wall Street ironically squeezes the miners, the network’s most fundamental elements. While institutional entries push BTC prices upwards, according to CoinMetrics, on-chain activities have not kept pace, leading to historically low transaction fees.
This imbalance is particularly detrimental in a post-halving environment, where block rewards have already been halved, and fees now account for less than 1% of miner revenue. With profitability increasingly reliant on price hikes, miners face mounting financial pressure and often succumb to liquidating their holdings or ceasing operations altogether.
The risk transcends economics, as declining miner participation also threatens decentralization. It may concentrate network security in dominant pools like Foundry and Antpool, which currently control nearly half of total hash power. The upcoming 2028 halving, which will drop rewards to just 1.5625 BTC per block, is expected to pose an even greater challenge. Without new uses to increase block space demand, Bitcoin’s security might weaken, and the “digital gold” narrative could shift away from the incentives keeping the network secure.
